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3ERTRAND    SMITH 

140  Pacific  Av«. 

LONG  BEACH, 

CALI  FOR  NlA 


CAPE   COD   FOLKS. 

&  Nobri. 

BY  SALLY   PRATT   McLEAN. 


Volume.     i2>no.     327  Pages.     Cloth,  gilt.     Price,  $1.50. 


A.  WILLIAMS  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 
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OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS  ON  THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE 
NEW  AMERICAN  HUMORIST. 

"  So  natural  and  true  to  life  are  some  of  the  characters,  localities,  and 
incidents  depicted  in  the  book,  that  the  observing  reader  finds  it  difficult  to 
persuade  himself  that  he  is  not  reading  the  autobiography  of  a  vivacious 
school-teacher  in  real  life.  The  scenes  and  incidents  of  the  novel  are  by 
no  means  commonplace,  however,  and  there  is  just  enough  of  the  improb 
able  and  impossible  in  the  story  to  give  it  piquancy  and  thorough  zest."  — 
Boston  Post. 

"  We  rather  doubt  the  justice  or  policy  of  ranking  the  work  as  a  novel, 
for  it  is  really  a  triumph  of  character  sketching,  with  novelistic  develop 
ments." —  Boston  Sunday  Times. 

"  Every  chapter  is  fresh  and  sparkling  with  life  and  humor,  and  we  can 
not  help  but  eulogize  the  author  for  her  masterly  hand  and  genius  of  story 
telling."—  N.  Y.  Star. 

"Those  who  take  up  this  volume  expecting  a 'commonplace  story  with 
which  to  while  away  a  few  hours,  will  find  themselves  most  agreeably  sur 
prised.  It  is  full,  from  beginning  to  end,  of  the  most  delicious  humor, 
while  through  the  whole  runs  a  vein  of  pathos  that  touches  and  thrills  to 
tears  in  the  midst  of  laughter.  One  feels  that  the  quaint  characters  described 
here  have  their  counterparts,  that  it  is  real  life  upon  the  bleak  Cape  Cod  of 
which  we  are  reading.  The  warmest  love  flows  out  to  Grandpa  and 
Grandma  Spicer,  whose  horizon  is  bounded  by  the  ocean  upon  which 


Press  Notices. 


Grandpa  has  spent  so  many  years  of  his  life,  and  who  are  both  so  kindly 
naturcd  and  full  to  the  brim  of  goodness.  Benny  Cradlebow,  the  unlettered 
young  Apollo,  challenges  our  sympathy  from  the  first  to  the  last,  when  he 
loses  his  life  in  trying-  to  save  that  of  his  would-be  rival. 

"  The  plot  is  nothing,  and  yet  the  reader  is  not  aware  of  its  absence.  The 
book  is  simply  a  picture  of  the  events  in  a  few  months  of  the  life  of  a  young 
girl  who  was  seized  with  the  idea  of  doing  missionary  work,  and  goes  to 
Cape  Cod  as  a  teacher.  It  is  as  crisp  as  the  air  in  that  sea-bound  place,  and 
as  sparkling  as  its  starry  skies.  That  it  is  true  to  nature  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  its  publishers  have  had  a  libel  suit  upon  their  hands  on  its  account. 
Buy  and  read  it.  You  cannot  fail  to  be  entertained." —  Toledo  Blade. 

"  There  is  real  power  in  her  characterization.  Real  eloquence  in  her  ac 
count  of  the  uncultivated  singing.  .  .  Real  pathos  in  the  vague  religious 
opinions  and  intense  religious  sentiment  of  these  simple,  brave  people."  — 
Boston  Advertiser. 

"  Her  description  of  the  provincial  traits  of  this  most  provincial  of  all  the 
outlying  New  Hngland  settlements,  are  admirable  bits  of  genre  workman 
ship."  —  Harper's  Magazine. 

"It  is  a  rarely  powerful  and  realistic  picture  of  simple  life." — Buffalo 
Express. 

"  The  author  has  given  us  a  charmingly  fresh  and  thoroughly  recognis 
able  portraiture."  —  IV.  Y.  Traveller. 

"  It  is  a  phenomenal  work."  —  Portland  Transcript. 

"  It  is  an  insult  to  literature  for  well-read  lawyers  to  treat  this  capital 
novel  as  if  it  were  a  mere  vulgar  libel."  —  iioston  Transcript. 

"That  book  has  been  the  means  of  shaking  literary  Boston  almost  to 
its  very  centre." — Quebec  Chronicle. 

"  It  is  intensely  amusing,  and  portrays  vividly  and  faithfully  the  daily  life 
of  a  peculiar  people."  —  Golden  Rule. 

"  It  contains  more  and  better  character-writing  than  any  book  of  its 
kind  we  have  seen  for  many  a  day."  —  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

" There  are  some  delicious  bits  in  'Cape  Cod  Folks."  The  literary  style 
is  excellent,  and  the  book  is  of  a  kind  to  please  almost  everybody."  —  N.  Y. 
Herald. 

"  Xo  man  reads  '  Cape  Cod  Folks '  with  more  delight  than  a  genuine  Cape 
Codder.  As  I  am  one  of  that  ilk,  I  am,  of  course,  one  of  her  admirers. 
The  bottom  fact  about  her  book  is  that  it  is  true,  and  paints  truth  down  to 
its  hidden  roots,  as  the  wont  of  genius  is.  This  is  the  general  verdict  of 
those  who  ought  to  know.  It  is  an  American  book,  racy  of  the  soil."  — 
Correspondence  to  Literary  World. 

"The  touch  of  a  new  hand,  at  once  original,  intense,  and  dramatic,  with 
a  vein  of  humor  and  a  power  of  sarcasm  warranting  the  belief  that  in  this 
work  we  have  the  beginning  of  a  career  and  of  a  name."  —  Boston  Herald. 


TOWHEAD 


THE    STORY    OF   A    GIRL 


BY 

SALLY    PRATT   McLEAN 

AUTHOR  OF  "CAPE  COD  FOLKS" 


BOSTON 

A.    WILLIAMS    AND    COMPANY 

©Iti  Corner  Bookstore 

1883 


Copyright,  1882, 
BY  A.  WILLIAMS  AND  C< 


All  rights  reserved. 


\VI;KJHT  &  POTI  KK  Printing  Co.,  18  Tost  Ofiire  Sq. 


ELECTROTYPE!). 

BOSTON  STEREOTYPE  FOUNDRY, 
NO.  4  PEARL  STREET. 


2047011 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.     MRS.  BODURTHA'S  PLAN 7 

II.  THE  CLOISTER,  DYMSBURY  PARK  ....  17 

III.  EXCELLUNA   TAKES    PAREGORIC 45 

IV.  VlXANNA    DAW 62 

V.  JOB  TRENCH  THE  CHORE-BOY,  AND  BEAU 
TIFUL  AUGUSTUS  BROWN 76 

VI.    AT  SCHOOL  IN  THE  SADDLE 92 

VII.     IT  HAS  COME 103 

VIII.  A  SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIMROOD  FEMALE 

SEMINARY 119 

IX.     PUT  ME  IN  WITH  THE  GOATS 140 

X.  DICK'S  LAST  HOPE.  —  IN  AFRICA  ....  160 

XI.     EXPELLED 176 

XII.     PERSONAL  SUPERVISION 193 

XIII.  WESTWARD  Ho! 204 

XIV.  A  PAIR  OF  HUNGRY  EYES 225 

XV.     DICK  MAKES  A  CONFESSION 239 

XVI.     A  TROUBLED  LAKE 253 

XVII.     THE  STARRING  TOUR 269 

XVIII.  EXCELLUNA'S  LAST  REVELATION    ....  283 


TOWHEAD. 


CHAPTER    I. 

MRS.    BODURTHA'S   PLAN. 

TV/PR.  BODURTHA,  prominent  and  successful 
financier  on  Wall  street,  prominent  pew- 
holder  and  alms-giver  in  a  Christian  church  on 
Broadway,  had  a  younger  brother,  Richard  by 
name,  who  baffled  all  the  virtuous  designs  of  his 
family  in  his  behalf  by  seeking  a  career  of  his  own 
on  the  stage. 

Mrs.  Bodurtha,  who,  as  a  discreet  and  virtuous 
woman,  possessed  all  the  qualities  which  distin 
guished  her  husband  as  a  man,  had  a  younger 
sister,  Lucy,  brilliant,  impulsive,  beautiful  —  every 
thing,  in  short,  that  Mrs.  Bodurtha  was  not. 

The  young  delinquents  in  these  two  worthy  and 
aristocratic  families  further  completed  their  own 
ruin,  and  estranged  themselves  from  their  families 
and  friends  by  falling  in  love  with  each  other,  and, 
finally,  a  distinct  opposition  being  applied  at  all 

7 


8  TOW  HE  AD. 

times  to  the  match,  by  eloping  one  night  from  the 
country-house  of  the  Bodurthas,  in  Dymsbury, 
Connecticut.  In  spite  of  all,  they  lived  most  hap 
pily  together,  and  still  beloved  of  the  gods,  they 
died  young. 

They  left  one  child,  Lucy,  or  "  Dick  "  —  as  she 
came  to  be  called,  during  the  first  six  happy  years 
of  her  life,  by  the  talented  and  gay  who  frequented 
her  father's  house.  This  little  one,  Mrs.  Bodurtha, 
herself  left  widowed,  moved  by  what  she  felt  to  be 
a  popular  sentiment  on  the  subject,  as  well  as 
by  the  expressed  opinion  of  her  eminent  pastor, 
consented  at  length  to  receive  to  her  personal 
guardianship  and  care.  But  she  had  no  children 
of  her  own  ;  she  had  always  had  a  horror  of  young 
children,  and  the  thought  of  assuming  what  she 
regarded,  in  this  case  especially,  as  so  doubtful 
and  terrible  a  responsibility,  was  almost  more  than 
she  could  bear.  Though  a  woman  of  rare  self- 
confidence  ordinarily,  and  of  a  keen  worldly  sense, 
in  this  respect  she  felt  only  self-distrust  and  fore 
boding  ;  and  as  day  after  day  happy  little  Dick 
developed  more  and  more  of  her  mother's  fatal 
charms  of  beauty,  and  of  her  father's  fatal  genius, 
Mrs.  Bodurtha's  dread  increased.  She  was  herself 


MRS.   BODURTHA'S  PLAN.  9 

religiously  careful  to  call  the  child  Lucy,  but  the 
wicked  pet  name  widely  prevailed,  and  even  fell 
from  the  lips  of  Mrs.  Bodurtha's  pastor  during  his 
informal  calls,  and  of  her  confidential  friend  and 
business  adviser,  Mr.  Higgins. 

Little  Dick  displayed  no  disagreeably  precocious 
traits.  She  was  a  perfectly  healthy,  naughty, 
natural  child,  with  an  innate  disposition  to  charm 
in  her  wilful  little  spirit,  with  wonderful  eyes  and 
hair,  and  a  laugh  that  showed  off  certain  dazzling 
hereditary  charms  of  teeth  and  feature  in  a  man 
ner  thoroughly  fascinating  to  the  beholder.  Not 
accustomed  to  being  thwarted,  she  had  seldom 
indulged  in  an  angry  or  resentful  mood  ;  so  that 
now,  when  Mrs.  Bodurtha  found  it  necessary  to 
apply  stern  words  of  admonition  and  rebuke,  little 
Miss  Dick,  instead  of  flying  into  a  passion,  gazed 
at  her  aunt  with  such  simple  incredulous  wonder 
in  her  lovely  eyes,  proceeding  forthwith  to  carry 
out  the  undaunted  designs  of  her  own  sweet  fancy, 
that  Mrs.  Bodurtha,  half  appalled,  half  fascinated, 
and  wholly  despairing,  was  moved  to  bewail  the 
day  that  ever  her  sister  had  brought  this  fate  upon 
her.  That  the  child  would  go  morally  wrong, 
she  was  sure  ;  she  would  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 


10  TOW  HE  AD. 

her  father  and  mother,  and  she,  wise,  strong-willed 
woman  though  she  was,  had  only  a  strange  haunt 
ing  consciousness  that  she  should  be  all  powerless 
to  prevent  her. 

"  I  cannot  describe  my  feelings  on  this  subject," 
Mrs.  Bodurtha  said  to  her  worthy  counsellor,  Mr. 
Higgins.  "  They  take  the  form  of  a  foreboding, 
but  they  are  none  the  less  terribly  real  to  me." 

She  concluded,  at  last,  that  she  must  resort  to 
desperate  expedients  ;  for  anxiety  about  little  Dick, 
with  her  recent  trials  in  the  loss  of  husband  and 
sister,  had  indeed  worn  upon  her  so  that  she  began 
to  languish  physically,  and  her  physician  impera 
tively  prescribed  new  scenes,  a  foreign  clime,  and 
freedom  from  care. 

"Since  I  am  not  able  myself  to  assume  this 
sweet  though  terrible  responsibility,"  said  Mrs. 
Bodurtha,  "I  must,  both  for  the  child's  sake  and 
my  own,  steel  myself  to  a  separation.  Lucy  must 
be  given  into  firmer  hands,  where  there  is  no 
danger  of  yielding  to  emotions  caused  by  the 
associations  of  the  past  or  to  too  great  weariness 
of  the  flesh.  Unendurable  as  the  trial  may  be  to 
my  own  feelings,  severe  as  the  discipline  may  be 
for  my  poor  dear  sister's  child,  it  seems  to  me  that 


MRS.  BODURTHA'S  PLAN.  II 

her  salvation  depends  upon  it.  She  must  be 
given  to  the  care  of  those  who  will  exercise 
firm,  persistent  and  unyielding  methods  of  disci 
pline." 

Since  the  time  when  Mrs.  Bodurtha's  sister  had 
taken  flight,  with  young  Richard,  from  the  house 
at  Dymsbury,  Mrs.  Bodurtha  had  never  revisited 
the  place.  She  had  not  at  any  time  entertained 
much  fondness  for  the  Dymsbury  country-house, 
and  that  event  had  deepened  the  feeling  to  one  of 
positive  dread  and  dislike.  But  she  had  a  great 
respect  for  her  tenant,  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon,  a 
man  of  dignified  countenance  and  sublime  stature, 
who  occasionally  came  to  New  York  to  consult 
with  her  on  business  matters  connected  with  the 
estate.  She  knew  that  he  had  a  devout  wife, 
a  large  family  of  children,  and  a  creditable  num 
ber  of  house  servants.  Her  thoughts,  conversant 
through  the  Sunday-school  literature  of  her  child 
hood,  with  certain  phases  of  New  England  rural 
and  religious  life,  dwelt  long  in  this  emergency 
upon  the  good  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  family,  as, 
in  imagination,  she  saw  it,  for  the  better  per 
formance  of  its  duties,  divided  into  orderly  ranks 
and  battalions,  rising  at  the  sound  of  a  bell,  and 


12  TOW  HE  AD. 

retiring  punctually,  after  its  useful  day,  with  mur 
mured  words  of  blessing  and  "good-night." 

Ah,  if  only  her  mad-spirited  little  niece  could 
be  immured  for  a  few  years  with  Deacon  Cadmus 
Pinchon  and  his  wife  in  this  quiet  home  at 
Dymsbury ;  subdued  day  by  day  and  led  to  infant 
meditation  through  the  passionless  companionship 
of  hills  and  flocks  !  Mrs.  Bodurtha  consulted  with 
Mr.  Higgins. 

Before  her  unfortunate  rencounter  with  young 
Richard,  Mrs.  Bodurtha's  erring  sister  had  been 
tacitly  promised  in  marriage  to  this  same  Mr. 
Higgins,  as  a  partner  greatly  to  be  desired  for  her 
on  account  of  his  superior  years,  worldly  wisdom, 
and  irreproachable  financial  standing.  Mr.  Hig 
gins  had  not  married,  neither  had  he  the  appear 
ance  of  one  who  bears  a  life-long  disappointment 
or  who  has  at  any  time  suffered  from  an  o'er- 
mastering  blow.  His  countenance  was  complacent, 
beaming,  and  affably  immoral.  And  now,  when 
Mrs.  Bodurtha  appealed  to  him  in  regard  to  the 
training  of  the  child  of  his  former  unfaithful  love, 
he  placed  his  hands  together  and  threw  his  head 
back  in  a  smilingly  sentimental  mood. 

"Ah!"    said    he,    "the   little   one    is    puffectly 


MRS.   BODURTHA'S  PLAN.  13 

bewitching!  She  smiled  on  me  when  I  came  in 
to-day,  Mrs.  Bodurtha ;  that  means  that  she  will 
cut  me  cruelly  to-morrow.  She  is  a  puffect  little 
beauty.  She  will  have  it  all  her  own  way." 

"That,"  said  Mrs.  Bodurtha,  in  a  tone  of  only 
so  much  grave  disapproval  as  it  was  proper  to 
assume  towards  a  person  of  such  large  financial 
interests  as  Mr.  Higgins  —  "that,  dear  Mr.  Hig- 
gins,  is  exactly  what  it  is  my  ponderous  duty  to 
try  to  prevent."  She  then  went  on  to  relate  to 
him  her  plan  for  the  incarceration  of  little  Miss 
Bodurtha  with  the  good  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon 
family. 

Mr.  Higgins  listened  suavely,  tapping  his  fingers 
together  and  smiling.  "  Excellent !  "  he  mur 
mured  at  length,  in  his  peculiarly  unctuous  tone. 
"Excellent!  The  —  ah — the  country  is  so  de 
lightfully  healthful,  you  know." 

"Oh,  it  isn't  that,"  Mrs.  Bodurtha  sighed. 
"  The  child  is  extravagantly  healthy.  Besides," 
she  added,  with  almost  a  touch  of  asperity  in  her 
voice ;  "  the  country  is  the  last  place  to  which  I 
should  think  of  sending  an  ailing  child,  Mr.  Hig 
gins.  I  am  sure  the  cackling  of  the  hens,  in 
itself,  is  enough  to  reduce  one  to  an  early  grave!" 


14  TOWHEAD. 

Mr.  Higgins,  vastly  amused,  yet  nodded  his  head 
in  polite  acquiescence.  ".Excellent !  "  he  again 
murmured,  "  excellent  !  " 

"No,"  Mrs.  Bodurtha  proceeded;  "it  is  rather 
that  she  may  have  in  this  worthy  Pinchon  family 
the  strict  and  necessary  discipline  which  I,  alas  ! 
am  unable  to  give.  I  have  seldom  seen  a  person 
of  such  grave  and  dignified  demeanor  as  Deacon 
Cadmus  Pinchon ;  and  his  wife,  I  am  informed,  is 
a  most  devout  and  exemplary  woman.  My  little 
niece  will  be  attended  by  her  governess  and  by  an 
old  servant,  Excelluna,  to  whom  my  sister,  in  her 
lifetime,  became  strangely  attached  —  a  poor,  faith 
ful  drudge,  who  in  her  turn  is  passionately  de 
voted  to  the  child  ;  but,  in  the  station  in  life  which 
my  little  niece  will  probably  fill  it  is  as  well,  per 
haps,"  said  Mrs.  Bodurtha,  "that  she  should  not 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  there  are  drudges." 

Mr.  Higgins'  countenance  shone  with  sympathy 
and  approval,  yet  had  he  been  pursuing  an  amus 
ing  train  of  thought  quite  his  own. 

"  Speaking  of  our  charming  little  Dick,"  he  now 
said,  savoring  his  speech  with  soft  effusions  of 
honeyed  laughter ;  "  in  ten  or  a  dozen  years  from 
now  I  will  myself  undertake  the  burden  of  her 


MRS.   BODURTHA1  S  PLAN.  1$ 

education  with  the  greatest  pleasure  —  I  do  assure 
you,  my  dear  Mrs.  Bodurtha,  with  the  greatest 
possible  pleasure.  Since  the  mother  proved  un 
faithful,  the  child  may  be  destined  to'  restore  my 
wounded  life.  Ah,  who  knows  ?  Who  knows  ? 
I  should  be  but  sixty  then,  and  no  grayer,  I  pre 
sume,  than  I  am  now.  Stranger  things  have  hap 
pened,  indeed,  stranger  things  have  happened." 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  met  the  pleasantries  of  the  smil 
ing  Croesus  before  her  with  that  graciousness 
which  was  their  due.  But,  together  with  the 
perplexities  already  tormenting  her  in  regard  to 
the  child's  training,  his  words  had  suggested  to 
her  the  more  awful  responsibilities  of  the  future. 
She  resumed,  in  a  tone  of  intense  and  troubled 
seriousness  :  — 

"  But,  in  order  that  the  direction  of  my  niece's 
future  life  may  be  wise  and  rational,  we  must  seek 
to  lay  the  proper  foundation  now.  Therefore  I 
have  made  this  plan  for  her  early  training  ;  and, 
torn  from  her,  as  I  must  be,  to  seek  my  own  health 
abroad,  I  have  confidence  that,  in  intrusting  her 
to  the  care  of  good  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  and 
his  wife,  she  will  be  placed  under  the  guidance  of 
stronger  and  firmer  hands  than  mine. 


1 6  TOWHEAD. 

"  By  them  the  poor  child's  inherited  traits  of 
wildness  and  improvidence  will  be  subdued  and 
rooted  out.  By  them  she  will  be  strictly  and  reli 
giously  nurtured.  They  have,  too,  a  large  family 
of  children,  and  my  little  niece  will  have  the 
benefit  of  that  domestic  drill  which  it  is  always  so 
imperatively  necessary  in  large  families  to  main 
tain. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  Mrs.  Bodurtha  concluded,  now  with 
a  long-drawn  sigh  of  relief ;  "  in  the  peaceful  and 
studious  retirement  of  that  country  home  will 
be  laid,  I  trust,  the  foundation  upon  which  we 
may  build  by  and  by  the  graces  of  a  prudent  and 
distinguished  womanhood." 


THE   CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY  PARK.        \j 

CHAPTER    II. 
THE   CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY   PARK. 


nr^HE  spring  was  waking  after  a  gorgeous  fashion 
peculiar  to  the  place,  when  little  Miss  Bodur- 
tha  came  to  that  particular  section  of  Dymsbury, 
which,  from  its  extensiveness  and  general  air  of 
inutility,  had  long  been  known  to  the  country 
people  thereabouts  as  Dymsbury  Park. 

Little  Miss  Bodurtha  had  never  known  anything 
so  delightful  as  the  drive  from  the  railway  station 
to  Dymsbury  Park  in  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon's 
family  wagon.  Change  beatific  !  from  the  gloomy 
upholstery  of  curtained  coaches,  and  the  profound 
rumble  of  aristocratic  wheels,  to  a  world  grown 
suddenly  so  illimitable,  with  its  woods,  and  fields, 
and  mountains  ;  and  a  perch  on  one  of  the  craziest, 
most  enchanting  old  vehicles  that  ever  rent  the 
pensive  country  air  with  its  rattlings  and  groanings 
and  periodic  shrieks. 

"  She  needs  ilein',''  observed  Job  Trench,  gravely. 
Job  Trench  was  known  as  the  "chore-boy"  at 
Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon's,  and  had  been  sent  to 


1 8  TOW  HE  AD. 

fetch  the  company  from  the  dtpot.  "  She  needs 
ilein'.  The  Dekin's  fust  rate  on  a  hoss  trade,"  he 
continued,  "but  I  never  bet  on  his  wagins." 

At  this  the  supercilious  look  on  the  face  of  the 
German  governess,  Miss  Schomanhaufer,  changed 
to  one  more  resembling  dismay  ;  and  Mr.  Higgins, 
who,  as  little  Miss  Bodurtha's  guardian,  was 
escorting  her  to  her  destination,  inquired  some 
what  anxiously  :  — 

"  But  the  wagon  is  puffectly  safe,  I  presume, 
my  good  boy?  " 

"  I  tell  ye,  I  don't  bet  on  'em,"  the  chore-boy 
replied,  a  touch  of  asperity  in  his  tone.  "The 
Dekin  might  ride  from  Dam  to  Bissheby  in  this 
'ere  wagin'  and  not  bust  a  screw,  and  then  ag'in, 
I've  known  'em  to  fall  all  ter  pieces  jest  a  goin'  to 
mill.  I  tell  ye,  I  don't  bet  on  'em.  But  the  Dekin 
never  keeps  a  hoss  but  what  is  a  hoss,"  he  added, 
reassuringly,  after  a  moment's  pause. 

Mr.  Higgins  would  have  derived  a  ghastly  satis 
faction  from  pursuing  the  subject  with  the  boy, 
but  Job  Trench,  having,  as  he  believed,  said  all 
that  to  any  fairly  sensible  mind  could  be  said  in 
regard  to  a  horse  and  wagon,  relapsed  into  that 
taciturn  silence  which  was  habitual  with  him. 


THE   CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY  PARK.         19 

Mr.  Higgins  and  Miss  Schomanhaufer  poised 
themselves  in  attitudes,  studiedly  unconscious,  and 
at  the  same  time  suggestive  of  a  readiness  to  leap. 
But  poor  old  Excelluna,  the  serving-woman,  the 
"drudge,"  at  little  Miss  Bodurtha's  side,  sat  per 
fectly  motionless,  like  one  in  a  happy  dream. 

Excelluna  was  gazing  through  her  "  fur-offs." 
This  ancient  serving-woman,  by  the  way,  possessed 
three  pairs  of  spectacles  endowed  with  such  pecu 
liar  qualities  of  vision  that  she  was  accustomed 
to  term  them,  respectively,  her  "  nigh-tos,"  her 
"mejums,"  and  her  "  fur-offs."  The  first  named, 
it  may  be  said  here,  she  employed  for  such  occa 
sional  diversion  as  she  found  in  reading ;  the 
second,  for  housework  and  general  duty ;  the 
third,  dearest  and  last,  for  such  purely  aesthetic 
delights  as  she  derived  from  the  contemplation  of 
the  scenery ;  and  now  her  quaint  eyes  gazed  afar, 
with  such  a  rapt  expression  in  them,  that  little  Miss 
Bodurtha  was  moved  to  ask,  with  wondering  awe, 
"  Is  that  where  God  lives,  Limy  ?  " 

The  child  had  unconsciously  solved  a  growing 
mystery  to  Excelluna's  mind.  The  simple  creature 
gazed  upon  her  as  though  verily  she  believed 
the  little  one  inspired.  "  It  are,"  she  answered, 


20  TOWHEAD. 

almost  inaudibly,  nodding  her  head  in  solemn 
confirmation  of  her  words.  "  Yis,  ever  and  a 
darlin'  orphing  lamb — for  sech  I  call  you  —  it 
are,  and  I  thank  you  for  them  words." 

To  the  imagination  of  these  two,  the  woman 
and  the  child,  a  shining  presence,  with  feet  like 
lightning,  and  wings  like  the  wind,  parted  the 
glowing  sky  and  stood  forth  on  the  mountains. 
Such  a  revelation  could  hardly  have  brought  sur 
prise,  indeed,  to  the  child,  with  her  wonderful  clear 
eyes ;  still  less  to  the  careworn,  grief-dimmed  orbs 
of  the  ancient  serving-woman. 

Excelluna,  who  had  known  Dymsbury  Park  in 
its  statelier  days,  did  not  even  note  those  things 
upon  which  the  gaze  of  Mr.  Higgins  and  Miss 
Schomanhaufer  fell  with  such  ironical  scrutiny  — 
the  tufted,  stony,  mossgrown  condition  of  the 
drives,  the  dazzling  profusion  of  underbrush,  the 
languid  attitude  of  the  fences.  To  her,  it  was 
only  the  smile  growing  distinct  again  on  a  face 
that  she  had  loved  long  since. 

"Ah,  my  good  boy,"  said  Mr.  Higgins  to  Job 
Trench,  "what  does  Mr. — ah  —  Deacon  Cadmus 
Pinchon  raise  on  this  —  ah  —  very  ornate  and 
elaborate  farm  ? " 


THE    CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY  PARK.         21 

"Sheeps  —  and  cows  —  and  bosses  —  and  live 
stock,"  replied  Job  Trench,  deliberately. 

"  And  what  may  the  live-stock  be  now  ? "  inquired 
Mr.  Higgins. 

"Colts,"  replied  Job  Trench  succinctly,  with  a 
touch  of  malicious  triumph  in  his  tone. 

"Ah,  very  good!  excellent!  excellent!"  said 
Mr.  Higgins,  laughing  slightly.  "  But  I  meant 
particularly  what  sort  of  grain  does  he  raise,  you 
know,  and  —  ah  —  vegetables  ? ' ' 

"  I'd  like  to  see  ye  raise  much  grain  and  vege 
tables  with  a  few  sech  colts  as  ourn  on  the  prem- 
erses,"  continued  Job  Trench,  still  derisively. 
"How'ver,"  he  subjoined,  returning  to  his  chronic 
state  of  profound  seriousness,  "the  Dekin  gen'- 
rally  fences  in  enough  for  fam'ly  use." 

To  the  eyes  of  the  travellers,  the  trees  began  to 
grow  scarcer  and  gigantic  in  size,  and  at  length, 
behind  a  colony  of  elms,  a  house  loomed  up,  vast, 
dim,  and  mysterious,  in  the  dusk.  The  senti 
ments  of  awe  produced  by  this  scene  were  quickly 
alleviated  by  a  most  grotesque  appearance  in  the 
doorway.  There,  framed  in  the  lamp-light  which 
poured  through  the  open  space,  stood  a  woman, 
black-featured  as  the  night,  balancing  herself 


22  TOWHEAD. 

airily,  first  on  one  foot  and  then  on  the  other,  and 
grinning  with  the  startling  brilliancy  of  her  race  ; 
not  so  much  in  welcome  to  the  approaching 
guests,  it  seemed,  as  with  private  relish  for  some 
noisy  demonstrations  which  were  going  on  within. 
Once,  there  was  a  lively  and  complete  revolution 
of  this  dusky  figure  on  its  axis,  the  sound  of  a 
playful  fisticuff  or  two  rang  out  upon  the  air,  and 
the  grin,  amplified  and  beaming  beyond  measure, 
returned  to  meet  the  gaze  of  the  alighting  guests. 
Excelluna  made  a  desperate  search  in  her  pocket 
for  her  mejums,  but,  adjusting  her  nigh-tos  by 
mistake,  the  full  effect  of  the  vision  was  overpow 
ering.  "  Somehow,  somewheres,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  I've  seen  that  perdicious  emblem  of  cur'osity 
before !  Vixanna  Daw  !  " 

At  this,  a  significant  gleam  passed  over  the  coun 
tenance  of  the  negress  in  the  doorway.  In  what 
world,  and  amid  what  scenes  these  two  had  for 
merly  beheld  each  other,  was  not  then  divulged, 
but  their  wanderings  had  been  unspeakable,  their 
experiences  vast,  and,  in  the  present  crisis,  their 
mutual  gaze,  which  betrayed  no  warmer  emotion  ; 
was  expressive  neither  of  tolerance  nor  of  animos 
ity.  "It's  a  co-ordinance,"  said  Excelluna,  sol- 


THE   CLOISTER,  DYMSBURY  PARK.        23 

emnly.       "That's    what    it    is.      It's    a    co-ordi 
nance." 

The  night  was  chill,  and  Vixanna  Daw  ushered 
the  travellers  into  a  spacious  apartment,  where  a 
table  was  spread,  and  a  fire  burned  on  the  hearth, 
and  a  company  of  comely  and  extremely  dirty 
children,  reduced  to  a  momentary  condition  of 
awe  by  the  advent  of  the  strangers,  stared  at  them 
open-mouthed.  By  this  time  the  countenances  of 
Mr.  Higgins  and  Miss  Schomanhaufer  had  as 
sumed  an  aspect  of  considerable  bewilderment. 

"Ah"  —  said  Mr.  Higgins,  who  was  short 
sighted,  and  had  not  detected  the  Saxon  fairness 
of  the  children  underneath  their  accidental  coating 
of  earth  and  molasses — "ah"  —said  he,  turning 
helplessly  to  Vixanna  Daw  —  "  you  have  a  very  — 
a  very  —  ah  —  elaborate  family,  Mrs.  Pinchon. 
Where  —  ah  —  is  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon?" 

"  Massy  sakes  alive  !  "  screamed  Vixanna,  drop 
ping  into  a  chair,  and  holding  her  sides  in  an 
uncontrollable  fit  of  laughter — "/  ain't  Miss 
Deacon  Cammus  Pinchon, —  I  ain't.  O  Lawd  ! 
O  Lawd  !  "  she  gasped  —  "  disll  kill  me,  sho'. 
Hold  onto  me,  somebody,  'fo'  I  busts  myself  — 
O  Lawd !  O  Lawd !  —  But  I  Jiab  alias  been 


24  TOWHEAD. 

brought  up  in  berry  pious  fam'lies,  dat's  a  fac'," 
she  added,  assuming  with  marvellous  quickness  a 
composed  and  reassuring  dignity  of  demeanor. 
"  I  nebber  libed  wid  nuffin  lessn  a  deacon,  'fo'  de 
Lawd.  Gen'ly,  it's  been  ministers  ;  'casionally  a 
Mefodist  or  'Piscopal' — ,  do  —  fo'  myse'f,  I'se 
mo'  inclined  to  de  Presbyteriums." 

As  Vixanna  uttered  these  words  in  a  truly 
mellifluous  tone  of  voice,  her  face  was  expressive 
of  sentiments  the  most  exclusively  orthodox,  and 
having  set  all  the  young  Pinchons  giggling  by 
means  of  a  covert  wink,  she  next  eyed  them  with 
a  long  gaze  of  heart-smitten  reproach.  "  Chil 
ians,"  said  she,  "yo  do  grieve  me  so'ly.  Can't  yo 
'member  to  follow  yo  ma's  'structions,  alias  to  'have 
yo'selves  'fo'  company  ?  But  I  was  gwine  to  tell 
yo',"  she  continued  to  her  spell-bound  audience, 
"  how  de  folks  all  come  to  be  gone. 

"  Yo'  see,  dese  younguns,  dey's  alias  some  of  'em 
up  to  sumfiri ,  and  what  should  Cammus  Junyah 
take  it  into  his  head,  dis  berry  arternoon,  but  he 
mus'  run  away  to  de  Watkinses  to  play  wid  dem 
Watkins  chilluns,  dat's  nuffin'  but  a  po'  low  fani'ly 
anyway ;  and  he  took  his  little  sister  Ruf  wid  'im, 
dat's  jes'  the  mos'  gentle  and  'missive  little  gi  \ 


THE   CLOISTER,    DYMSBURY  PARK.        2$ 

dat  ebber  was,  but  she  alias  min's  wat  de  las' 
pusson  tells  her  las'.  But,  Miss  Deacon  Cammus, 
agin  and  agin  she's  posi'vely  fo'bid  de  chilluns 
gwine  to  dem  Watkinses  to  play;  and  only  las' 
ebenin'  I  heard  her  say,  '  Whatebber  you  does, 
chilluns,  don'  let  me  hear  o'  dat.'  So  when  she 
'skivered  as  dey  was  gone,  she  had  mejit  'spicions 
o'  wha'  dey  was,  and  she  sent  Vinny  Noble  — 
dat's  Miss  Pinchonses  secon'  girl,"  said  Vixanna, 
parenthetically,  with  an  accent  of  undisguised  con 
tempt,  "fo'  to  look  'em  up.  Fo'  dat  Vinny  Noble 
she  nebber  foun'  anyfin'  yet  from  mawnin'  to  sun 
set —  but  jest  as  soon  as  dey's  anyfin'  los'  she's 
'spatched  fo'  it  mejit. 

"  Wall,  co'se  she  went  and  co'se  she  stayed ; 
and  bimeby  I  tol'  Miss  Deacon  Cammus  dat  sum- 
fin  had  orter  be  done,  and  ef  it  wan't  fo'  all  de 
'sponsibility  o'  'spectin'  company/  says  I,  '  I'd  go 
hunt  dem  chilluns  up  myse'f.' 

"  So  den  Miss  Cammus  say  she  was  a  gwine  — 
and  Miss  Cammus  ain't  a  berry  fas'  walker.  She 
makes  a  great  fuss  and  stew  'bout  gittin'  along, 
Miss  Cammus  does,  but  somehow  she's  one  o'  dat 
kin'  dat  ain't  nebber  succeeded  in  gittin'  ober 
much  groun'. 


26  TOW  HE  AD. 

"  So  bimcby,  arter  she'd  been  gone  a  vv'ile, 
Deacon  Cammus  he  come  along,  an'  I  tol'  him 
how  'twas,  an'  says  I,  '  It's  ra'ly  gittin'  time  de  case 
was  'tended  to.'  So  den  Jie  started  off  —  and  Dea 
con  Cammus  alias  has  de  bes'  o'  'tentions,  but  I 
know  dat  jes'  as  like  as  not,  'fo'  he  git  half  a  dozen 
rods,  he  fo'git  wat  he  started  fo'  ;  or  ef  he  should 
meet  somebody  ter  talk  wid  on  de  road,  he'd  neb- 
ber  knew  how  fas'  de  time  flew. 

"  So  bimeby,  Gusto  Brown,  he  come  along  — 
and  him  I  can  gen'ly  'pend  on  ;  an'  says  I,  '  De 
'mergency's  ra'ly  gittin'  rjressin'.  So  den  he  say 
he  start  right  off,  and  he  asks  Miss  Deacon  Cam- 
muses  niece  —  dat's  Miss  Mollie  Ebbelyn,  dat's 
here  visitin'  —  ef  she  would'n  like  ter  walk  along 
wid  'im,  and  she  says  yis, —  so  den  I  gibs  'cm  all 
np  fo"  slio." 

Now  the  return  of  the  various  members  of  the 
erratic  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  family  was  in  this 
wise.  First  of  all,  appeared  Cadmus  Pinchon,  Jun 
ior,  and  the  demure  little  Ruth,  and  straightway 
proceeded  to  shine  among  their  brothers  and  sis 
ters,  in  such  superior  distinction  of  rags  and  grime 
as  had  accrued  to  them  from  their  more  extensive 
wanderings.  Shortly  afterward,  good  Deacon  Cad- 


THE   CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY  PARK.        27 

mus  and  Mrs.  Pinchon  came  back  from  a  fruitless 
quest,  and  on  discovering  their  prodigal  offspring 
arrived  before  them,  by  no  means  evinced  such 
choler  or  indignation  as  they  might  naturally  have 
shown  on  the  occasion.  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon, 
majestic  of  stature  and  of  mien,  exhibited  an  un 
disturbed  benignity  of  countenance,  and  Mrs.  Pin 
chon,  though  flustered  with  walking,  was  spiritually 
calm.  It  was  not  until  after  the  worthy  couple 
had  been  engaged  for  some  moments  in  amiable, 
though  unhurried  conversation  with  their  guests, 
that  Mrs.  Cadmus  Pinchon's  soft  brown  eye  wan 
dered  by  chance  in  the  direction  of  the  recreant 
Cadmus  Pinchon,  Junior.  A  sudden  thought  lit 
up  her  imagination  and  she  exclaimed,  in  a  round, 
clear,  expostulatory  tone  that  yet  lacked  any  severe 
element  of  dispraise  :  — 

"  Cadmus  Pinchon,  how  could  you  run  away,  and 
grieve  your  poor  dear  mother  so  ?  " 

For  answer,  Cadmus,  Junior,  who  stood  by  the 
grate,  kicked  an  outlying  coal  with  his  heel,  and 
slightly  lowered  his  head  to  hide  a  grin  of  volup 
tuous  recollection. 

From  this  hardened  culprit,  Mrs.  Pinchon's  gaze 
instinctively  turned  to  the  gentle  Ruth. 


28  TOWHEAD. 

"  Ruthie  Pinchon,"  she  exclaimed,  "  how  could 
you  run  away,  and  grieve  your  poor  dear  mother 
sot" 

Ruth's  little  under  lip  began  to  quiver.  "  There, 
don't  cry,  Ruthie  dear,  mother's  own  darling," 
continued  Mrs.  Pinchon,  in  the  same  clear,  dispas 
sionate  strain  ;  whereat  the  obedient  little  Ruth 
graciously  forbore  to  weep.  At  the  same  time 
Mrs.  Pinchon's  gaze  was  withdrawn  and  became 
vaguely  retrospective,  and  the  deflections  of  those 
youthful  Pinchons  were  not  again  alluded  to. 

When,  at  length,  Augustus  Brown  and  Mrs. 
Pinchon's  niece,  Miss  Mollie  Evelyn,  stepped, 
glowing  and  blushing,  over  the  threshold,  small 
cause  for  wonder  was  there  felt  to  be  in  their 
mutual  delay  ;  for  Miss  Mollie  was  fair  and  brown- 
eyed,  like  Mrs.  Cadmus  Pinchon,  but  the  younger 
woman's  eyes  were  provokingly  bright,  her  cheeks 
were  ravishing  with  dimples  ;  and  Augustus  Brown 
had  an  air  of  true  distinction,  and  was  withal  a 
model  of  manly  beauty. 

In  the  momentary  confusion  preceding  the  dis 
posal  of  the  company  at  the  table,  little  Miss 
Bodurtha,  who  had  been  drinking  in  with  no  end 
of  delight  and  edification  the  lively  habits  of  the 


THE   CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY  PARK.        29 

Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  family,  fouud  herself 
accosted  in  a  loud  whisper  by  Cadmus  Pinchon, 
Junior. 

"  Hullo,  Towhead ! "  said  he,  with  a  good- 
natured  and  fraternal  air,  and  yet  slightly  em 
barrassed,  as  having,  in  this  preliminary  salutation, 
yielded  somewhat  exhaustively  to  the  demands  of 
polite  society.  "  If  ye  want  some  fun,  ye'd  better 
come  out  and  eat  along  o'  us  and  Vixy.  Vixy's 
gonter  have  mush,  and  'lasses." 

Mr.  Higgins  was  beaming  gallantly  upon  Miss 
Mollie  Evelyn,  and,  in  view  of  the  finished  manner 
of  the  beautiful  Augustus  Brown,  even  Miss 
Schomanhaufer's  stern  features  were  relaxing  into 
a  smile.  Little  Miss  Bodurtha  slipped  deftly  down 
from  her  perch  at  the  side  of  Deacon  Cadmus 
Pinchon,  and  followed  her  youthful  benefactor  to 
a  board  in  the  rear  of  the  house,  less  ornate  indeed 
in  its  furnishing, ,  but  suggestive  of  far  superior 
revelry.  There  were  gathered  the  little  Pinchons 
all,  there  was  her  good  Excelluna,  there  was  the 
delightful  Vixanna  Daw,  and  there,  in  an  obscure 
corner,  sat  Job  Trench,  the  chore-boy. 

Excelluna  turned  rather  sharply  on  Cadmus 
Pinchon,  Junior.  "What  do  you  mean,"  she  ex- 


30  TOW  HE  AD. 

claimed,  "by  bringin'  that  child  into  the  kitch- 
ing?" 

"  Oh  Laws,  now,"  interposed  Vixanna  Daw, 
"  nebber  min'  wha'  we  eats,  ef  we's  only  libely  and 
genteel.  We's  all  'ware  o'  de  fac'  dat  dis  chile's 
berry  han'some  and  high-bo'n." 

"  She's  a  towhead,"  persisted  Cadmus,  Junior, 
in  pathetic  vindication  of  his  own  crown,  which 
glimmered  with  locks  of  a  hue  unmitigably  red. 

"  Yo's  a  putty  one  to  scoff  at  folks'  ha'r,  yd  is, 
Cammus  Junyah  !  "  retorted  Vixanna.  "And  yo' 
own  head  jist  a  bustin'  out  wid  je'g'ment  flame ! 
Dat's  w'at  it  is,  cl'ar  je'g'ment  flame." 

But  the  melancholy  Job  Trench  spoke,  from  his 
corner,  and  an  attentive  silence  prevailed.  "  She's 
harnsome,"  said  he,  his  dull  eyes  fixed  in  a  sort  of 
joyless  fascinated  gaze  on  the  golden-haired  child  : 

"  She's  like  the  actresses  I  used  to  see,  when  I 
was  an  orphan,  down  to  New  York." 

This  old  young  boy  had  the  look  of  one  who  has 
been  early  starved  and  who  has  seen  too  much. 
He,  with  Lavinia  Noble,  the  "second  girl,"  had 
been  left  with  good  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pinchon,  not 
long  since,  by  the  itinerating  vender  of  an  orphan 
asylum.  Job  Trench  was  regarded  with  that 


THE  CLOISTER,  DYMSBURY  PARK.        3* 

peculiar  awe  which  attaches  itself  to  those  who 
speak  seldom  and  smile  never,  save  it  be  satiri 
cally  ;  and  at  his  sombre  recognition  of  little 
Miss  Bodurtha's  superior  charms,  Excelluna,  who 
had  been  disposed  at  first  to  regard  him  with 
disfavor,  beamed  auspiciously  upon  him  through 
her  mejums. 

"  I'se  sorry  not  to  hab  any  doxothology  said 
ober  dis  yer  meal,"  Vixanna  remarked  incidentally. 
"  'Gusto  Brown  asks  de  mos'  beautiful  doxothol 
ogy  yo'  ebber  heered,  but  sence  Miss  Mollie 
Ebbelyn  come,  he  took  a  notion  to  eat  in  de  odder 
room,  do',  'fo'  she  come,  he  was  gen'ly  'customed 
to  eat  wid  me  and  de  children  —  'Fo'  Mista  and 
Misses  Pinchon,'  says  he,  'dey's  berry  good  folks,' 
says  he,  '  but  dey  aint  de  libliest  company  dat 
ebber  was.  Dey  aint  fo'mal  'zac'ly,'  says  he,  'nor 
yit  dey  ain't  joc'lar.'  " 

"  Who  is  Agusto  Brown  ?  "  inquired  Excelluna. 

"  '  Wall,"  replied  Vixanna,  suddenly  assuming  a 
mysterious  air;  'he's  a 'nigma,  dat's  what  he  is. 
In  odder  wo'cls,  Luny,  dey's  a  myst'ry  'bout 
'Gusto  Brown.  An'  I  don'  min'  tellin'  yo\  Luny, 
w'at  'Gusto  Brown's  'fided  to  me  and  de  chilluns  in 
de  mos'  strick'es'  privacy,  dat  he's  no  mo'  nor  less 


32^  7OWHEAD. 

dan  de  eldes'  son  of  a  forrum  juke.  'But  I 
quarrel'd  wid  de  ol'  juke,  Vixy,'  says  he,  'wi'ch 
'counts  fo'  my  bein'  in  dis  kentry,  in  sech  'duced 
succumstances.'  And  he  'vealed  to  us  his  forrum 
name,  dat  the  name  o'  dat  Jumman  gub'ness  ain't 
nuffin  to  it.'" 

"And  what  is  Agusto  Brown  now?"  inquired 
Excelluna,  with  implicit  confidence. 

"Wall,"  said  Vixanna  Daw,  "jes'  at  pres'n',  he's 
Deacon  Cammus  Pinchonses  hi'd  man.  But  he 
w'ars  de  mos'  beautiful  clo's,  and  he  nebber  wu'ks 
widout  glubs  on,  and  he's  'spectin'  an  apologum 
from  de  ol'  juke,  callin'  ob  'im  back,  ebbery  day  of 
his  life,  'Gusto  Brown  is."" 

Now  the  good  Excelluna  revelled  in  mysteries. 
Her  eyes  rolled  upon  Vixanna  Daw  with  a  look  of 
solemn  exultation.  "  I  knew  there  was  something 
extraorjaner  about  that  Agusto  Brown,  the  minute 
I  set  eyes  on  him,"  said  she. 

"  I  don'  min'  tellin'  yo  t  Limy,"  continued  Vix 
anna;  "dat  de  reason  w'y  'Gusto  Brown  lef  de  ol 
juke  was  dis  :  de  ol'  juke  wan'ed  'Gusto  Brown  to 
marry  one  o'  dem  forrum  prinsusses  wid  a  name 
dat  'Gusto  Brown's  hisse'f  wasn't  miffin  to  it. 
'  But  I  couldn't,'  says  he.  '  Why  ? '  says  I.  '  Cos,' 


THE   CLOISTER,  DYMSBURY  PARK.        33 

says  'Gusto  Brown,  '  my  buzzums  wasn't  fi'd  wid 
de  holy  spa'k  ob  lub.'  But,  'tween  yo'  and  me, 
Luny,  it's  my  'pinion  dat  'Gusto  Brown's  putty 
much  in  lub  now  wid  Miss  Mollie  Ebbelyn,  and 
she  wid  him,  do  she's  a  mos'  drefful  case  to  flirt, 
Miss  Mollie  is  ;  and  'Gusto  Brown  carries  hisse'f  so 
high  and  ca'm,  dey's  no  tellin'  alias  w'at  his 
'motions  is.  And  Miss  Mollie's  nuffin  but  de 
daughter  ob  a  Presbyterium  minister:  dat  ain't  no 
great  ketch,  to  be  sho',  fo'  sech  a  figga  as  'Gusto 
Brown,  and  de  eldes'  son  ob  a  forrum  juke  !  " 

"  It  appeared  to  me,"  said  Excelluna,  investing 
this  splendid  romance  with  a  sudden  dark  sugges 
tion  of  tragedy  :  "  it  appeared  to  me  jest  afore  sup 
per,  that  Mr.  Higgins  was  a  makin'  up  to  Mrs. 
Deking  Cadmuses  niece,  and  Miss  Shoe-mine-off- 
ear  was  a  makin'  up  to  Agusto  Brown." 

"  Oh,  laws,  Luny,"  exclaimed  Vixanna  Daw,  highly 
amused.  "Yo'  ain't  had  much  of  de 'spe'rences  ob 
lub,  ef  you  tinks  dey's  anyfin'  to  dat.  Dey's  only  jes' 
a  playin'  off.  Lub,  Luny,"  said  Vixanna,  suddenly 
wearing  an  air  of  supreme  significance ;  "  's  like  dis 
yer  'lasses  dat  I'm  a  flowin'  onto  my  mush.  It's 
sweet,  Luny,  but  it's  'stremely  'pricious  ;  it's 
'stremely  'pricious." 


34  TOWHEAD. 

Vixanna  Daw  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table  and 
dispensed  the  steaming  oatmeal  mush  with  a  long 
iron  spoon,  like  one  who  wields  a  royal  though 
blithe  prerogative.  The  little  Pinchons  had  indi 
vidual  molasses  cups.  They  laughed,  they  shouted, 
they  dabbled  with  their  fingers  in  that  sweet 
refection.  Little  Miss  Bodurtha  had  never  been 
so  happy.  She  suddenly  evinced  qualities  calcu 
lated  to  cope  in  every  instance  with  those  youthful 
Pinchons.  She  consumed  her  food  from  the  palm 
of  her  dainty  hand.  Ripples  and  peals  of  laughter 
fell  from  her  rosy  lips.  At  her  delight,  tears  of 
sympathetic  joy  rolled  down  Excelluna's  cheeks. 
"How  you  be  a  enjoyin'  of  yourself,  ever  and  a 
darlin'  one ! "  she  cried.  When,  at  the  height  of 
the  frolic,  Vixanna  Daw  laid  the  robust  Cadmus 
Junior,  across  her  knees  and  administered  a  playful 
dose  of  discipline,  and  all  the  little  Pinchons  cried, 
"  Spank  me  too,  Vixy  ! "  shrillest  and  sweetest  of 
all  rose  the  voice  of  little  Miss  Bodurtha,  "  Spank 
me  too,  Vixy  ! " 

After  the  banquet,  little  Miss  Bodurtha  was  ab 
ducted  from  these  charming  companions  and  led 
into  the  parlor,  from  which  she  was  again  speedily 
rescued  by  the  dauntless  Cadmus  Junior,  and  intro- 


THE  CLOISTER,  DYMSBURY  PARK.        35 

duced  to  the  most  marvellous,  the  most  unspeak 
able  wanderings  with  the  little  Pinchons,  in  the 
cellar,  in  the  garret,  through  the  mysteries  of  a 
great  gloomy  old  barn,  preceded  by  Vixanna  Daw, 
with  her  lantern,  and  followed  by  the  wondering 
and  helpless  Excelluna. 

Then  there  was  the  enchanting  period  during 
which  Vixanna  peered  through  an  aperture  in  the 
floor  over  the  parlor,  known  as  the  "dummy  hole," 
and  regaled  her  hearers  with  a  choice,  if  not 
veracious,  account  of  what  was  going  on  in  the 
room  below.  Vixanna  had  besought  the  privilege 
of  using  Excelluna's  fur-offs  for  this  purpose,  and 
such  an  admission  of  advanced  years  on  her  part, 
as  well  as  the  recognition  of  the  subtle  qualities 
of  Excelluna's  spectacles,  had  made  the  latter  a 
more  willing  votary  of  her  crime.  But  Vixanna 
Daw  had  no  need  of  spectacles.  They  became 
entangled  in  the  meshes  of  her  curly  hair,  while 
she  stretched  herself  flat  on  the  floor,  save  for  a 
slight  elevation  of  the  heels  at  one  extreme  and  an 
immersion  of  the  head  in  the  dummy  hole  at  the 
other,  which  order  was  occasionally  reversed,  as 
she  recounted  to  her  audience,  in  a  muffled 
whisper,  the  result  of  her  observations  ;  — 


36  TOWHEAD. 

"  It's  jes'  as  I  'spected,  chilluns,  we's  jes'  in  de 
nick  o'  time.  'Gusto  Brown  an'  dat  Jumman 
gub'ness  am  a  settin'  on  de  sofy  by  de  winder, 
lookin'  at  de  phogertraph  a'bums,  and  Miss  Mollie 
and  Mista  Higgins,  dey's  a  settin'  on  de  sofy  by 
de  grate,  flirtin'  fit  to  make  yo'  ha'r  stan'  on 
end. 

"  And  'Gusto  Brown,  he's  a  'havin'  r'al  p'lite, 
but  he  looks  kinda  wore  out,  and  once  in  a  w'ile 
his  eyes  shoots  over  drefful  to'ds  Miss  Mollie.  But 
Miss  Mollie  and  Mista  Higgins,  dey  keeps  on  a 
flirting  fit  to  make  yo'  ha'r  stan'  on  end." 

"  Where  is  D eking  Cadmus  Pinchon  ?  "  inquired 
Excelluna,  very  gravely. 

"  He's  jes'  gone  out  to  hunt  de  chilluns  up,  to 
bring  'em  in  to  pra'rs,"  responded  Vixanna. 

"  And  where  is  Miss  Deking  Cadmus  Pinchon  ? " 
inquired  Excelluna. 

"  She's  a  settin'  by  de  centa-table,  readin'  the 
New  Yawk  R'igious  'Bserver,"  answered  Vixanna. 

Gradually  Vixanna's  head  sank  lower  and  lower 
and  lower  into  the  dummy  hole.  The  resurrec 
tions  became  less  frequent,  and  endured  for  briefer 
periods  of  time.  "  Mista  Higgins,  he's  talkin'  in 
dat  voice  o'  his  dat  soun's  jes'  like  de  po'k  a 


THE   CLOISTER,   D  VMS  BURY  PARK.         37 

cripsin'  in  the  bottom  o'  de  pot,  only  mo'  sof. 
Miss  Mollie's  a  flirtin'  drefful. 

"  Mista  Higgins  say  he's  nuffin'  but  a  po'  f'l'on 
bachelum,  gwine  back  to  his  lonely  home  in  de 
great  city.  Don'  she  tink  Miss  Mollie  gib  'im  one 
kiss  to  take  back  wid  'im,  when  he  hab  to  go  back 
all  alone  on  de  midnight  owl-train  ?  — 

"  Den  would  she  be  mo'tally  'fended  ef  he  steal 
one  ? " 

Vixanna's  head  made  one  brief  reappearance 
and  then  sank  hopelessly  from  view. 

"  He'p  me  up,  chilluns  !  "  she  exclaimed  weakly 
at  length.  "  He'p  me  up,  chilluns  ! "  And,  as 
she  rose,  she  wore  an  aspect  impressively  silent 
and  awful. 

"Vixanna  Daw,"  slowly  ejaculated  Excelluna, 
"did  that  Mr.  Higgins  —  did  he  kiss  Miss  Deking 
Cadmus  Pinchonses  niece  ?" 

"  Luny,"  returned  Vixanna  Daw,  with  equal  so 
lemnity ;  "I  swa'  to  de  immo'tal  Moses,  an'  ef  I  was 
on  my  dyin'  bed  I  couldn't  say  no  different,  dat, 
jes  at  that  p'int  I  sJiet  my  eyes.  Come,  chilluns, 
le's  all  go  down  to  pra'rs." 

When  little  Miss  Bodurtha,  denuded  of  her 
soiled  garments,  and  washed  and  arrayed  in  a. 


38  TOWHEAD. 

beautiful  white  night-gown  at  the  hands  of  her 
faithful  Excelluna,  sank  to  sleep  that  night,  her 
eyelids  closed  upon  a  blissful  dream  of  perfect 
freedom  and  abounding  sweets ;  of  underground 
passages  and  dizzy  heights  surpassing  the  pride 
of  fairy  tales  ;  of  giant  trees,  waving  in  the  moon 
light  ;  of  beautiful  coquettish  maidens  and  dis 
guised  foreign  potentates  ;  of  playfellows  innumer 
able,  children  fertile  in  invention,  and  grown  people 
like  children. 

But  a  trouble  weighed  upon  Excelluna's  mind, 
and  she  could  not  sleep.  From  that  humble  recess 
in  little  Miss  Bodurtha's  apartment,  where  she  was 
domiciled,  the  old  serving-woman  wandered  out 
into  the  larger  room.  She  cast  a  loving  glance 
towards  the  bed  where  her  precious  charge  lay 
sleeping,  then  directed  her  steps  to  the  window, 
adjusted  her  fur-offs,  and  gazed  long  and  earnestly 
at  the  moon.  The  moon  was  at  its  full,  and 
beamed  down  upon  Excelluna  with  something  of 
the  benignity  of  a  human  countenance.  Excelluna 
discovered  this.  As  she  gazed  she  grew  more 
and  more  confident,  and  at  length  the  pent-up 
burden  of  heart  began  to  find  expression. 

"  A  deking  !  "  said  Excelluna  to  the  moon.   "  Yis, 


THE   CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY  PARK.         39 

a  deking  !  —  and  that  ain't  nothin'  aginst  nobody, 
to  be  sure,  neither  furthermore  nor  hereafter  it 
don't  not  always  prove  nothing  !" 

At  this  the  moon  seemed  to  wink  down  solemnly 
at  Excelluna,  as  much  as  to  say  :  "  Between  you 
and  me  and  the  big  elm  trees,  Excelluna,  you've 
discovered  an  important  truth  in  nature." 

Flattered  by  this  profound  and  unusual  sym 
pathy,  Excelluna  went  on  :  "  Not  but  what  De- 
king  Cadmus  Pinchon  may  be,  without  doubt, 
very  good-natered  and  very  religioust,  and  Miss 
Deking  Cadmus  Pinchon  also  without  doubt  the 
same,  but  —  wall,  we  all  on  us  have  our  peculiar 
rarities  —  "  Excelluna  sighed,  regarding  the  moon 
as  though  even  that  splendid  creature  could  not 
be  totally  exempt  from  this  world-embracing  law 
—  "  but  it  doos  seem  as  though  some  on  us  was 
more  peculiar  raritous  than  others,  and  it  doos 
seem  as  though  this  'ere  Deking  Cadmus  Pinchon 
family  was  the  peculiar  raritousest  family  that  ever 
I  come  in  contact  with.  For  there's  no  denyin' 
that  I've  lived  with  a  great  many,  but  my  experi 
ences  has  been  heretofore  that,  in  families  where 
the  woman  went  biast  the  man  ginerally  went 
straight ;  or  ef  the  man  went  biast,  the  woman  went 


40  TOWHEAD. 

straight ;  but  here  it's  all  biast  to  biast,  as  smooth 
and  easy  goin'  as  the  sea  o'  glass  !  But  I  don't 
know  as  it's  any  more  of  a  peculiar  rarity  than 
that  folks  that  calls  themselves  a  Christian  should 
go  a  lookin'  of  their  health  in  forring  parts  and 
leave  their  sister's  only  child  —  poor  ever  and  a 
darlin'  orphing  lamb  !  —  to  be  strict  and  religioust 
brung  up  in  a  family  that  runs  biast  to  biast,  and 
full  of  nothin'  but  rampagious  young-ones,  and  for 
ring  jukes,  and  black  emblems  of  cur'osity,  the 
owls  of  the  desert  and  the  pelticoons  of  the  wil 
derness." 

At  this  the  moon  seemed  fairly  to  glow  with 
sympathetic  indignation  from  afar. 

"  How  anybody  that  calls  themselves  a  Christian, 
and  a  church-belongin'  Christian,"  continued  Ex- 
celluna  ;  "could  do  sech  a  thing  as  that  —  wall, 
I'm  nothin'  but  a  poor  cur'ous  creetur,  I  know.  I 
never  was  much  brung  up,  nor  I  never  had  no 
advantages  to  speak  on.  I  wasn't  born  rich,  no, 
nor  I  never  married  rich"  —  here  the  moon 
seemed  to  be  trying,  politely,  very  politely,  to  hide 
a  faint  inclination  to  smile.  Excelluna  paused  a 
moment,  balanced  her  spectacles  with  the  nicest 
degree  of  precision  on  the  extreme  verge  of  her 


THE   CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY  PARK.        4! 

nose,  and  gazed  scrutinizingly,  even  severely,  at 
the  moon.  "  I  am  aweer  of  the  fact,"  said  Excel- 
luna;  "that  I  hain't  never  married  at  all.  Mar 
riage,"  said  Excelluna;  "is  like  religion;  it  had 
ought  to  be  entered  into  early.  Elst,"  she  gravely 
and  innocently  added  ;  "  as  we  grow  older,  we're 
more  liable  to  see  the  folly  of  it."  The  moon  had 
resumed  its  serious  aspect  and  was  listening  atten 
tively —  "But  there  air  peculiar-rarities,  sech  as 
leaving  my  own  kith  and  kin',  ef  I  had  any  — 
which  the  Lord  knows  I  haven't  —  that  I  hope  I 
never  should  be  liable  to." 

Excelluna's  tone  grew  pathetic.  The  moon, 
though  pitiful,  was  so  far  off.  "  Who  will  guide 
that  purty  wanderin'  lamb  ? "  she  cried,  pointing 
towards  the  bed.  "  Who  will  lead  them  little 
wanderin'  steps  to  stand  up  high  and  pure  where 
her  angeling  mother  stands  ?  As  fur  as  the  East 
is  from  the  West,  so  fur  was  that  angeling  mother 
from  her  as  has  gone  a  lookin'  of  her  health  in 
forring  parts.  When  she  found  me,  that  had 
served  her  father's  family  years  ago,  she  knowed 
me.  '  Why,  it's  Luny ! '  said  she,  lookin'  at  me 
with  them  eyes  o'  hern,  that  never  see  nothin'  on 
the  outside,  nor  rags,  nor  humbliness.  She 


42  TOWHEAD. 

knowed  me.  '  You  must  come  home,  Luny,'  she 
says.  That  was  her  way ;  she  must  always  have 
things  brung  home.  But  who  will  care  for  hern, 
now  that  she  has  been  took  away?  Who  will 
lead  them  little  orphing  steps  up  to  that  angeling 
mother's  home  ? " 

The  tears  were  streaming  from  Excelluna's 
eyes.  But  suddenly,  to  those  poor  uplifted  eyes, 
suddenly  to  those  marvelous  fur-offs,  the  moon 
revealed  a  mystery.  And  a  look  crept  over 
Excelluna's  face,  not  so  much  startled  as  it  was 
first  solemn  and  then  full  of  an  exceeding  glad 
ness,  and  the  tears  continued  flowing  for  very  joy, 
as  she,  open-mouthed,  stood  peering  upward. 

"It's  God!"  said  Excelluna  at  length,  very 
slowly ;  for  she  saw  palaces  and  gardens  and  green 
hills  and  peaceful  valleys  and  a  shining  road  withal, 
leading  clear  down  through  the  branches  of  the 
great  elm  trees.  "  It's  God,  that's  what  it  is ! 
When  we  was  a  comin'  here,  this  very  night,  that 
darlin'  child  says  to  me,  '  Is  this  where  God  lives, 
Luny  ? '  says  she ;  '  Is  this  where  God  lives  ? '  And, 
'yis,'  says  I,  'it  is'  —  not  knowin'  but  greatly 
suspectin' — and  now  I'm  sure  oiit.  Mebby,"  said 
Excelluna  thoughtfully,  and  as  though  the  idea  had 


THE   CLOISTER,   DYMSBURY  PARK.        43 

taken  hold  of  her  with  wonderfully  inspiring  force 
—  "mebby  God '11  do  somethin'  towards  bringin' 
up  that  poor  darlin'  lamb.  I  never  heered  of  jest 
sech  an  insternce  before  —  of  its  bein'  left  to 
Him  quite  so  much  entirely  to  sech  an  extent  — 
but  somehow  I  ain't  afeered  for  nothin'  now.  I 
r'a'ly  ain't  a  mite  afeered."  And  the  homely 
simple  face  grew  happier  and  happier;  and  the 
moon  stooped  down  and  kissed  the  last  tear  away, 
and  Excelluna  went  comforted  to  bed. 

Thrice  during  the  night  was  Excelluna  dis 
turbed  in  her  innocent  slumbers.  She  heard 
noises,  noises  too  of  a  nature  frantic  and  infernal. 
The  first  time  that  she  crept  to  the  window  and 
looked  out,  "  It's  the  midnight  owl-train "  she 
exclaimed,  "that  Mr.  Higgins  was  a  gwine  back 
on."  The  second  time,  there  was  an  ominous  look 
on  her  face  and  she  listened  thoughtfully.  "  It's 
the  wailin's  of  the  —  It's  wailin's,"  concluded 
Excelluna,  discreetly  —  "  That's  what  it  is ;  it's 
wailin's."  The  third  time,  as  she  stood  with 
attentive  ear,  peering  desperately  out  into  the 
shadows,  a  sudden  illumination  transformed  her 
features  and  gave  place  at  last  to  a  smile  of 
perfect  peace.  "It's  cats,"  said  Excelluna,  trao- 


44  TOWHEAD. 

quilly  retracing  her  steps  to  her  couch.  "  I  hope 
I  hain't  lived  as  long  as  /  have  in  this  'ere  fightin', 
squabblin',  squallin'  world  to  be  kep'  awake  by 
cats  I" 

"  I  might  'a  remembered,"  said  Excelluna,  turn 
ing  drowsily  on  her  pillow  —  "the  very  first  time 
I  set  eyes  on  that  Miss  Deking  Cadmus  Pinchon, 
this  very  night,  says  I  to  myself  — '  ef  I'm  any 
thing  of  a  jedge  of  human  natur','  says  I,  'and  I 
think  I  be  a  something  of  a  sech  '  — says  I,  '  that 
'ar  woman  keeps  cats'  " 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.          45 


CHAPTER    III. 

EXCELLUNA  TAKES  PAREGORIC. 

TV  /PR.  HIGGINS,  with  a  slight  bewilderment  in 
his  bland  smile,  went  back  to  his  lonely 
home  in  the  great  city.  Mrs.  Bodurtha,  with  inno 
cent  assurance  of  mind,  and  with  conscience  at 
rest,  sailed  away  to  sunny  France.  And  little 
Miss  Bodurtha  was  left  to  the  studious  aspirations 
and  orderly  exercises  of  Dymsbury  Park. 

I  speak  not  satirically.  Life  is  deep.  The  Dea 
con  Cadmus  Pinchon  family,  though  it  might  not 
indeed  have  borne  exclusive  witness  to  that  grave 
official  domination  implied  in  the  peculiar  title  of 
its  head,  was  yet  amiable  and  distinguished  in  the 
whole  scope  of  its  genius.  Though  singularly  free 
from  the  grinding  exactions  of  mere  superficial  law 
and  order,  its  down-sittings  and  its  up-risings,  its 
in-comings  and  its  out-goings,  were  the  result  of 
higher  inspirations,  that  drew  their  sources  from 
the  stars. 


46  TOWHEAD. 

Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon,  tall,  broad-shouldered, 
beneficent  of  eye,  with  his  noble,  bald  forehead 
and  long,  flowing  beard,  had  a  truly  imposing 
and  patriarchal  aspect.  As  he  sat  on  the 
fence,  placidly  engaged  in  whittling,  that  charm 
which  lay  ever  in  the  old  prophetic  grandeur  of 
his  presence  seemed  to  invest  the  humble  rails 
with  a  peculiar  dignity,  while  his  artless  occupa 
tion  became  possessed  of  some  deeply  mysterious 
philosophical  import.  His  tones  were  deep,  mel 
low  and  impressive.  In  speaking,  he  ever  began 
with  a  slow,  wave-like  inflection  of  the  voice,  a 
"  Wa^al,  I  do-~-n't  kno — ow,"  which  was  believed 
to  be  merely  the  amiable  concession  of  omnipo 
tence  ;  and  when  nothing  further  was  added  —  as 
not  infrequently  happened  —  the  listener  was  still 
constrained  to  believe  that,  if  the  dry  formula  of 
this  utterance  could  be  pierced  by  mortal  ken, 
gems  of  rare  and  intrinsic  wisdom  would  be  dis 
covered  underneath. 

In  the  ordinary  nature  of  events,  it  would  seem 
that  Mrs.  Cadmus  Pinchon  should  have  been  a  scold, 
a  vixen,  and  a  shrew,  spreading  terror  and  desolation 
in  her  path.  But  herein  we  behold  the  unexampled 
bliss  of  this  singularly  gifted  family.  Mrs.  Cad- 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.          47 

mus  had  not  indeed  retired  to  that  soundless  phil 
osophic  calm  which  characterized  the  mental  habit 
of  Deacon  Cadmus.  She  was  still  sometimes  to  be 
seen  in  an  attitude  of  troubled  thought,  and,  though 
true  at  heart  to  her  simple  religious  tenets  had  now 
and  then  been  known  to  advance  into  the  meta 
physical  realm  with  all  the  bold  inquisitiveness 
of  irresponsible  childhood.  Yet  her  mental  travails 
were  not  of  the  sort  calculated  to  leave  their  trace  in 
furrows  on  her  placid  brow,  or  to  dim  the  lustre  of 
her  soft  brown  eye.  She  too  said,  "  I  don't  know," 
in  tones  indefinitely  prolonged  ;  while  in  respect  to 
material  things  she  maintained  ever  an  attitude  as 
calm,  as  hopeful  and  untroubled  as  the  good  dea 
con's  own.  There  were  six  little  Pinchons  ;  who,  not 
yet  being  old  enough  to  discover  for  themselves 
those  intrinsic  qualities  most  worthy  to  be  imitated 
in  father  and  mother,  had  borrowed  meanwhile  some 
what  extensively  from  more  doubtful  and  alluring 
sources.  It  had  been  the  importunate  prayer  of 
Mrs.  Pinchon's  heart  that  she  might  have  at  least 
one  child  who  should  be  prematurely  devout,  a 
Samuel,  original  in  his  devotions,  and  to  be  saved 
but  with  difficulty  from  the  jaws  of  early  immor 
talization. 


48  TOWHEAD. 

This  prayer  had  not  as  yet  been  answered.  Never 
were  there  six  children  more  vigorously  healthy  than 
hers,  or  who,  on  being  much  entreated,  offered  up 
their  daily  orisons  with  greater  reluctance,  in  tones 
so  revengefully  loud  and  expressive  of  such  a  hope 
less  spiritual  sloth.  Perhaps  some  exception 
should  be  made  in  the  case  of  Ruth  Pinchon, 
who,  though  unideally  devoted  to  her  meals, 
was  a  little  model  of  obedience,  and  wavered 
with  equal  fondness  between  the  bad  and  the 
good. 

In  the  wide  latitude  of  the  old  house  at  Dyms- 
bury  Park,  Augustus  Brown  shed  the  lustre  of  his 
presence  over  the  stately  waste  of  a  former  guest- 
chamber  ;  and  it  was  with  no  unjustifiable  pride 
that  that  mysterious  youth  surveyed  in  its  tall 
mirrors  the  reflection  of  his  own  chaste  fea 
tures. 

Vixanna  Daw  chose  for  her  domain  apartments 
in  an  obscure  wing  of  the  building,  where  also,  at 
her  dictation,  Job  Trench  and  Lavinia  Noble  re 
mained.  This  quarter  was  but  dimly  illuminated 
by  means  of  its  low,  square  windows.  It  had  an 
appearance  of  surfeit  too  vague  to  be  designated 
as  disorder,  and  contained,  besides,  horrible  sem- 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.         49 

blances  of  ghosts,  manufactured  by  its  inmates  for 
the  edification  of  the  little  Pinchons,  who  were  too 
prone  to  penetrate  into  its  mysteries. 

There  were  with  Vixanna  Daw  seasons  of  spiritual 
renewal  and  sublime  aspiration  ;  when,  with  many 
expressions  of  disgust  for  the  squalor  and  con 
fusion  of  her  former  apartments,  and  dark  innuen- 
dos  as  to  the  fitness  of  Job  Trench  and  Lavinia 
Noble  as  moral  companions,  she  would  remove 
with  her  personal  effects  to  a  part  of  the  house 
where  wider  spaces  obtained,  and  a  sunnier  out 
look  ;  but  night,  alas,  always  found  her  back,  fully 
re-established  in  her  old  haunts,  and  wearing  some 
indefinable  air  of  elation,  as  of  strange  perils 
escaped. 

The  table  customs  of  the  Deacon  Cadmus  Pin- 
chon  family  were  of  a  delightfully  varied  and  in 
constant  nature.  At  times,  Augustus  Brown  would 
wield  his  knife  and  fork  and  flourish  his  napkin 
with  inimitable  grace  at  the  table  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cadmus  Pinchon  ;  at  others  he  would  conde 
scend  to  shine  with  undiminished  brilliance  of  ex 
ample  in  the  kitchen,  where  Vixanna  Daw  chose 
to  preside  at  a  board  of  her  own,  and  where  the 
meat  and  bread  were  supplemented  by  lively 


50  TOW  HE  AD. 

regalements  of  wit  and  laughter.  Here  sat  Job 
Trench,  the  silent  child  of  wisdom.  Hither  re 
sorted  the  little  Pinchons  whenever  they  could 
compass  it. 

However  wild  the  distractions  of  the  day,  family 
worship  was  made  to  form,  somehow,  at  some  time, 
a  part  of  its  revolving  orrery.  Owing  to  the  va 
grant  character  of  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon's  spec 
tacles,  Augustus  Brown  usually  read  the  chapter. 
Those  who  had  once  heard  could  never  forget  the 
noble  and  sincere  pathos  of  the  young  man's  tone  ; 
nor,  most  conspicuous  in  the  singing  of  the  hymn 
which  followed,  Vixanna's  weird,  sad  wail,  and  the 
loud,  untuned  abandonment  of  Lavinia  Noble's 
measures. 

Chapter,  hymn  and  prayer  were  impartially  dis 
cussed  afterwards  by  the  members  of  the  select 
coterie  in  the  kitchen,  who  never  allowed  them 
selves  to  be  deterred  in  the  work  of  honest  inves 
tigation,  either  by  abstruseness  or  solemnity  of 
theme  :  yet  these  researches,  on  the  whole,  were 
undertaken  in  no  light  or  carping  spirit ;  and  severe 
indeed  were  the  rebukes  applied  by  Vixanna  Daw, 
at  the  occasional  glimpses  of  infidelity  afforded  in 
the  character  of  Job  Trench. 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.          51 

On  the  morning  after  the  arrival  of  little  Miss 
Dick  Bodurtha  with  her  retinue  at  Dymsbury  Park, 
Excelluna  noticed  that  Miss  Schomanhaufer  looked 
pale,  even  ill.  Excelluna  thought  how  her  own 
early  slumbers  had  been  disturbed  by  the  wailing 
of  the  cats. 

"  Did  you  sleep  well  last  night,  Miss  Shoe-mine- 
off-ear  ? "  she  inquired,  with  a  delicate  sense  of 
sympathy,  as  that  learned  female  swept  by  her  on 
her  way  through  the  hall. 

"  I  slept,"  responded  Miss  Schomanhaufer, 
"miserably.  I  WSLSS  ssickent  with  frightful  and 
disgusstmk.  noises.  I  slept  miserably." 

Excelluna  smiled.  She  had  it  on  her  tongue's 
end  to  reveal  to  Miss  Schomanhaufer  the  harmless 
and  insignificant  source  of  all  her  sufferings,  when 
the  governess  turned  on  her  abruptly,  with  an  im 
perative  air  of  inquiry.  "Who  iss  this  gentle 
man  ?  "  said  she.  "  This  Meester  Augustus  Brown  ? 
Why  doQss  he  stay  here  ?  Who  iss  he  ?  " 

Now  Excelluna  truly  admired  the  beautiful 
Augustus  Brown,  and,  at  the  same  time,  she  was 
perfectly  well  aware  of  Miss  Schomanhaufer's 
aristocratic  proclivities.  She  longed  to  tell  the 
governess  that  that  matchless  young  man  was  even 


$2  TOW  HE  AD. 

the  illustrious  son  of  a  foreign  duke  —  but  had  she 
not  been  bound  to  secrecy  on  that  point  ?  So  she 
could  only  roll  her  eyes  upon  her  with  a  deeply 
cabalistic  meaning,  as  she  placed  a  finger  signifi 
cantly  on  her  lips. 

"  Wall,  jest  at  present,  Miss  Shoe-mine-off-ear," 
said  she,  "jest  at  present,  you  know  —  jest  at  pre 
sent,"  said  Excelluna  with  a  deprecatory  smile,  and 
weakly  delaying  to  inflict  the  blow  ;  "  he's  Deking 
Cadmus  Pinchonses  hired  man." 

Miss  Schomanhaufer  did  not  smile.  It  was 
probably  not  two  hours  afterwards  that  her  trunk 
was  again  seen  mounted  on  the  rickety  farm- 
wagon  ;  the  gloomy  chore-boy  held  the  reins,  and 
Miss  Schomanhaufer  sat,  pale  but  determined, 
with  her  face  set  in  the  direction  of  the  Dymsburv 
railway  station. 

The  surprise  of  the  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon 
family  at  the  sudden  departure  was  considerable, 
but  affected  no  strange  emotions  of  choler  or 
dismay.  It  was  believed  that  Excelluna  possessed 
the  secret.  She  said  nothing,  but  her  look  was 
unmistakably  pregnant.  She  was  determined,  for 
her  part,  that  nothing  should  be  said  to  wound  the 
feelings  of  poor,  beautiful,  mysterious  Augustus 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.         53 

Brown.  So  she  framed  a  little  conceit  of  her  own, 
unparalleled  at  once  for  delicacy  of  sentiment  and 
ingenuity  of  design. 

"There's  only  one  thing,  Miss  Deking  Cadmus 
Pinchon,"  —  said  she,  in  answer  to  her  easy 
interrogator — "that  I  can  reveal  to  you,  in  re 
gard  to  Miss  Shoe-mine-off-ear's  suddint  goin'  off ; 
and  that  is,  that  it  was  cats,  Miss  Deking  Cadmus 
Pinchon,  and  then  ag'in,  it  wdiit  cats.  It  wan't, 
and  then  ag'in  it  was"  And  Excelluna's  lips 
closed  mysteriously. 

"  It  couldn't  have  been  cats,"  drawled  the  soft 
hearted  Mrs.  Pinchon,  with  almost  a  touch  of  in 
dignant  remonstrance  in  her  tone. 

"  No,"  —  Excelluna  answered  briefly  —  "  it 
wa'n't.  It  wa'n't,  Miss  Deking  Cadmus  Pinchon, 
and  then  ag'in,  it  was.  It  was,  and  then  ag'in  it 
wa'n't ;  and  that  is  all  that  I  can  reveal  to  you,  in 
regard  to  that  suddint  goin'  off." 

Little  Miss  Dick's  guardian  wrote  a  request  that 
Miss  Mollie  Evelyn  would  accept  the  position  so 
unceremoniously  resigned  by  Miss  Schomanhau- 
fer.  Miss  Mollie's  girlish  ardor  was  not  in  the 
least  daunted  in  view  of  so  novel  an  undertaking ; 
besides,  she  had  special  reasons  for  liking  to 


54  TOW  HE  AD. 

remain  at  Dymsbury  Park.  Miss  Mollie's  in 
structions  began,  and  were  imparted  chiefly  by 
means  of  oral  conversations,  carried  on  by  the 
streams  and  in  the  woods  about  Dymsbury  Park. 

The  little  Pinchons  invariably  formed  a  part  of 
this  peripatetic  school ;  and  if  its  exercises  were 
not  of  the  sort  usually  prescribed  in  text-books, 
but  admitted  of  endless  gay  diversions,  such  as 
climbing  among  the  tree-branches,  and  wading 
over  the  pebbly  bottoms  of  purling  brooks,  still,  my 
Dick  Bodurtha  looks  back  to  this  beginning  of  her 
career  in  the  pursuit  of  letters  with  no  shadow  of 
regret.  To  her  mind,  Augustus  Brown  is  some 
how  inseparably  connected  with  the  picture  — 
Augustus  Brown,  straying  idly  over  from  the  corn 
field,  and  doffing  his  hat,  to  sit  on  the  bank  at 
Miss  Mollie's  side.  And  then  the  sound  of  the 
voices  of  those  two,  as  it  is  borne  down  to  the 
children  at  their  sport  below,  smacks  of  no  foreign 
tongue,  indeed,  albeit  it  is  exceedingly  low  and 
sweet. 

The  children  loved  Miss  Mollie.  Her  laughing 
eyes  and  coquettish  airs  could  play  no  pranks  with 
them.  They  found  her  heart  and  exulted  over 
her,  knowing  how  weak  she  was,  after  all ;  how 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.          55 

tender  and  womanly,  how  sweet  and  unselfish. 
And  although,  poor  child !  she  might  not  have 
been  greatly  skilled  in  imparting  to  them  even 
such  small  store  of  erudition  as  she  herself 
possessed,  she  gave  to  their  wild,  neglected  lives 
almost  the  only  glimpse  they  ever  had  of  the 
yearning  mother  love.  There  was  no  balm  for 
their  childish  woes  like  Miss  Mollie's  gentle  voice, 
no  rest  for  little  aching  heads  like  Miss  Mollie's 
breast. 

And  the  children  loved  Augustus  Brown.  With 
quick  intuition,  they  detected  in  that  manly 
bosom  the  instincts  of  the  true  gentleman,  singu 
larly  free  from  admixture  with  any  baser  metal ; 
while,  as  a  discourser  of  rare  and  unpremeditated 
romance,  there  was  no  denying  that  he  was  even 
more  gifted  than  Miss  Mollie  herself;  and,  what 
was  remarkable,  considering  his  position  as  Dea 
con  Pinchon's  hired  man,  or  even  as  the  "  son  of  a 
foreign  duke,"  he  never  tripped  in  the  matter  of 
good  English,  as  Miss  Mollie  frequently  did. 

The  amours  of  these  two  cast  a  glamour  of 
romance  over  the  days,  and  the  secret  was  sweet 
to  all  the  children  and  dependents  of  the  Deacon 
Cadmus  Pinchon  family,  in  that  they  knew 


5  6  TOWHEAD. 

Augustus  Brown  to  be  the  happy  and  full  pos 
sessor  of  Miss  Mollie's  heart.  But  why  did  he  not 
speak  ?  Miss  Mollie  would  not  mind  his  present 
forlorn  circumstances,  she  was  so  kind.  Why  did 
he  not  speak?  —  that  dear  Miss  Mollie  might  be 
ready,  at  any  hour,  to  go  back  with  him  to  the 
silken  splendors  of  a  royal  position  and  the  ducal 
coronet,  which  could  adorn,  but  not  outshine,  her 
lovely  brows.  Augustus  Brown  did  not  tell  his 
love. '  His  face  took  on  at  times  an  expres 
sion  of  sadness  which  would  have  called  for  pity, 
had  it  not  seemed  in  his  case,  so  supremely  in 
teresting. 

Excelluna  looked  troubled  in  these  times  ;  but 
Excelluna  had  the  air  of  a  victim  borne  down  by 
more  than  one  weighty  consideration.  Her  friend, 
the  moon,  had  gone  out  in  a  dark  eclipse.  She 
communed  much  with  herself,  often  with  the  dear 
object  of  her  charge,  little  Miss  Bodurtha  —  not, 
generally,  little  Miss  Bodurtha  as  a  substantial 
presence,  visible  to  the  senses.  So  varied  and 
wide  were  Dick's  wanderings  that  Excelluna  be 
came  accustomed  at  length  to  address  herself  to 
the  intangible  essence  of  that  bright  creature. 
And  so  it  was  that :  — 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.          $? 

"Ever  and  a  darlin'  orphing  lamb,"  she  said, 
while  little  Dick  was  at  that  very  moment  far  away, 
wading  among  the  flags,  down  in  the  meadow  lot 
—  "  ever  and  a  darlin'  orphing  lamb,"  said  Excel- 
luna ;  "  many  and  much  has  been  the  thoughts  of 
late  a  troublin'  of  my  mind  concerning  you. 

"  It  has  appeared  to  me  of  late,  ever  darlin',  that 
for  a  child  fell  nateral  heir  to  as  much  1'arnin'  and 
governessin'  as  you  was,  you  air  not  a  gittin' 
nothin'  nowise  extry  of  an  eddication.  In  short, 
ever  darlin',  ef  it  could  ever  be  said  of  sech  a 
mother's  child,  you  air  a  gittin'  to  be  the  ignorunt- 
est  of  the  ignorunt,  and  the  rampagiousest  of  the 
rampagious.  Not,  ever  darlin',  but  what  your 
natur'  is  bright  to  exceedin'  and  your  dispersition 
most  lovingable,  but  you  air  not  a  bein'  brung  up 
after  that  'ar  strict  and  pioust  manner  as  was 
thought  on  by  her  as  has  gone  a  lookin'  of  her 
health  in  forring  parts.  You  most  certingly  air 
not.  All  sech  wildness  as  is  and  a  ridin'  of  colts 
bareback  you  air  a  learnin'  of  that  black  emblem 
of  cur'osity  and  them  little  Pinchonses.  But,  as 
for  sech  1'arnin'  as  was  thought  on,  you  air  simply, 
so  fur  as  I  can  see,  not  a  makin'  no  pergression 
whatever. 


58  TOWHEAD. 

"  I  know  that  I  be  not  myself,"  continued  Ex- 
celluna,  with  pathetic  gravity ;  "  much  of  a  perfi- 
cient  in  forring  langurges.  I  have  always  found 
a  considerable  to  contend  with  in  my  own,  and 
though  I  can  ginerally  ketch  the  senst,  I  am 
aweer  that  I  am  not  always  perfect  on  the  pernun- 
ceration.  But  all  sech  of  readin'  and  writin'  as  I 
know  I  have  taught  and  shall  continue  for  to  teach 
you.  And  no  denyin'  as  it's  enough  for  a  poor  old 
servin'  creetur'  like  me,  but  for  one  fell  nateral 
heir  to  as  much  expectations  as  you  was,  ever 
darlin',  it  r'a'ly  seems  to  me  that  it  is  not  a  goin' 
to  prove  nothin'  very  remarkable  of  an  eddica- 
tion. 

"  F"olks  have  got  sech  an  idea  of  1'arnin'  now-a- 
days,"  sighed  Excelluna,  hopelessly  ;  "  though,  to 
be  sure,  there  was  a  good  deal  made  out  of  mathter- 
matics  when  /  was  young.  Now  there  was  :  — 

'  Jest  sixteen  yards  of  German  surge 

For  ninety  cents  had  /. 
How  many  yards  of  that  same  surge 
Will  fourteen  eagles  buy.' 

"  Wall,  to  be  sure,  there  was  some  that  done  it. 
There  was  Elizabeth  Chauncey,  that  sat  next  to 
me  in  school,  that  married  Holwell  Tuller,  slic 
done  it.  I  for  my  part,  I  confess,  ever  darlin',  that 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.          $9 

no  I  never  done  that  'ar  example.  Why,  I  can't 
tell.  Most  certingly  did  I  try,  and  long  was  I  a 
committin'  of  that  poultry  to  my  memory.  But  as 
for  gittin'  of  that  'ar  example,  ever  darlin',  lie  I 
cannot,  never  could  I  make  no  head  nor  tail  on't. 
I  wish  that  I  had  a  been  able  to,  for  then  I  could 
a  teached  it  to  you.  But  I  don't  suppose,"  said 
Excelluna,  sorrowfully,  "  that  even  that  for  now-a- 
days  would  be  considered  much  of  a  perficiency  in 
mathtermatics. 

"  And  as  for  that  'ere  strict  and  religioust 
bringin'  up  as  you  was  to  have,  ever  darlin',  I  have 
already  said  that  it  do  not  at  present  appear  to  be 
sech  as  was  thought  on.  Not  but  what  Miss  Deking 
Cadmus  Pinchon  is  one  of  the  best  meanin'  crit 
ters  that  ever  lived,  and  often  has  said  to  me  that 
ef  only  she  could  git  the  children  all  together  in 
the  house  and  make  'em  set  still  long  enough, 
she'd  instruct  the  Bible  to  'em  every  day.  But  this 
'ere  I  have  observed  in  respec'  to  women  that 
keep  more  than  one  cat  around  the  house,  in 
respec'  to  sech  women,  there  is  always  a  sometJdii 
wantin'.  Sech  little  religion  as  I  have,  ever  dar 
lin',  which  it  is  mostly,  '  Our  Father  which  art  in 
Heving,'  I  have  taught  and  shall  continue  for  to 


60  TOW  HE  AD. 

teach  you,  but  it  r'a'ly  do  not  appear  to  be  so 
much  as  might  be  thought  liable  in  a  deking's 
family.  Sech,  and  many  more,  ever  darlin',  has 
been  the  thoughts  a  troublin'  of  my  mind  con 
cerning  you." 

Excelluna  paused,  her  eyes  rolling  peculiarly 
in  their  sockets,  her  forefinger  pressed  meditatively 
against  her  lips. 

"  I  r'a'ly  don't  see,"  said  this  simple  troubled 
soul,  at  last ;  "  but  what  it's  got  to  be  mostly  left 
to  the  Lord.  Yis,  ever  darlin',  your  eddication 
and  your  bringin'  up  has  got  to  be  mostly  left  to 
the  Lord.  It's  a  very  remarkable  insternce,  and 
I'm  kind  of  oncerting  as  to  ihe  conserkences  — 
but,  take  it  for  all  in  all,  this  'ere's  a  vary  puz- 
zlin',  mistractful,  muxed  up  sort  of  a  world.  Long 
have  I  been  a  tryin'  to  get  it  somewhat  straight 
ened  out,  but  I  don't  see  as  I'm  no  nearer  the  end 
than  what  I  was  to  the  beginning.  To  be  sure,  I 
may  —  I  may,  sometime  —  but  I  must  say  that,  at 
present,  the  prospects  is  very  jub'ous." 

Excelluna  shook  her  head  sacl^y,  and  took  a  small 
vial  from  her  pocket.  It  contained  an  innocent 
cordial,  known  as  paregoric.  Excelluna  merely 
applied  the  tip  of  her  forefinger  delicately  to  the 


EXCELLUNA    TAKES  PAREGORIC.         6l 

mouth  of  the  bottle,  and  then  touched  her  finger 
lightly  to  her  tongue. 

"It  ain't  a  cure"  said  she.  "There  ain't  no 
cure  for  sech  a  mistractful,  muxed  up  state  of 
things,  but  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  it  was 
a  kind  of  a  perventative."  And  she  replaced  the 
bottle,  and  walked  slowly  and  thoughtfully  away. 


62  TOWHEAD. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

VIXANNA   DAW. 

"\  7"ERY  tenderly  my  Dick  Bodurtha  remembers 
the  guides  and  instructors  of  her  days  at 
Dymsbury  Park.  Not  the  least  tenderly  she  calls 
up  from  the  pathetic  background  of  the  past  that 
dusky  figure  which  made  so  vivid  an  impression  on 
her  youthful  eyes,  and  which  vanished,  too,  with 
such  meteor-like  abruptness,  Vixanna  Daw. 

This  Vixanna  wore  the  mental  air  of  significant 
centuries,  while,  physically,  she  appeared  all  un 
scathed  by  the  hand  of  the  destroyer,  Time.  So 
that  a  vague  opinion  prevailed  in  the  Deacon  Cad 
mus  Pinchon  family  that  she  even  possessed  a 
doubtful  sort  of  immortality ;  this  idea  was 
strongest  with  Excelluna,  and  amounted,  in  her 
case,  almost  to  a  conviction.  Through  her  nigh- 
tos,  through  her  mejums,  through  her  fur-offs, 
Excelluna  was  frequently  discovered  gazing  at 
Vixanna  Daw,  the  look  of  intent  inquiry  on  her 


VJXANNA   DAW.  63 

features  gradually  yielding  to  a  darkly  dawning 
sentiment  of  awe. 

Vixanna's  laugh  was  musical  and  gay,  her 
motions  expressive  of  an  unstudied  airiness. 
Having,  as  was  her  proud  boast,  lived  almost 
exclusively  among  families  of  marked  piety,  and 
especially  with  ministers,  her  thoughts  had  nat 
urally  been  much  turned  to  the  contemplation 
of  abstract  and  religious  themes ;  and,  in  the  con 
troversies  on  such  subjects,  which  prevailed  in  the 
kitchen,  Vixanna's  tone  was  not  so  much  that  of  a 
crude  inquirer  after  spiritual  truth  as  of  one  quali 
fied  to  take  a  broad  and  smiling  view  of  the  whole 
theological  platform. 

"I  know,"  she  said  ;  "dat  I  'ain't  nebber  j'ined 
myse'f  to  no  p'tickler  d'nomination,  do'  I'se  berry 
kindly  'fectioned  to  'em  all  —  but  de  truf  is,  I'se 
jes'  as  kindly  'fectioned  to  one  as  I  is  to  anudder, 
so  I  gibs  'em  all  my  mos'  hearties'  doxothology, 
an',  fo'  myse'f,  I  accep's  de  great  gin'ral  doctrine 
ob  'scretion  —  de  great  gin'ral  doctrine  ob  'scre- 
tion,"  —  said  Vixanna  Daw,  "as  we  fin's  it,  my 
bredderin,  in  de  'riginal  Greek." 

In  respect  to  the  conjugal  relations,  too,  Vixanna 
had  reduced  her  views  to  a  few  axioms  of  almost 


64  TOW  HE  AD. 

mathematical  clearness  and  precision.  Here,  her 
experience  had  been,  as  usual,  exhaustive  ;  and,  if 
her  words  were  to  be  believed,  of  an  especially 
infelicitous  nature.  She  spoke  of  her  "husban's," 
always  collectively,  always  with  a  shade  of  sad 
ness  ;  not  so  much,  it  seemed,  lamenting  the  fate  of 
those  called  untimely  to  the  tomb  as  an  expression 
of  doubtful  sentiments  towards  the  still  existing, 
and  she  was  frequently  heard  to  assure  Excelluna 
that  there  was  "  one  p'int  on  which  she'd  fairly 
'stinguished  herself  for  'scretion  ;  she'd  alias  libcd 
an  ol'  maid." 

Vixanna  had  her  peculiar  delights.  She  found  a 
secret  and  lively  satisfaction  in  battling  with  her 
dear  foe,  the  horn-bugs,  which  invaded  her  apart 
ments  in  battalions,  during  the  warm  nights  of 
June.  But  her  chief  enjoyment,  perhaps,  consisted 
in  walking  upon  the  barn-roof,  ascent  to  which  was 
made  easy  by  a  gradated  scale  of  lower  buildings 
adjoining.  From  this  height,  her  countenance 
beamed  with  <^ri  indescribable  expression  of  glory 
attained,  and  yet  with  something  of  a  satanic 
light,  as  though  the  act  of  walking  on  the  roof, 
though  it  would  seem  not  in  itself  immoral,  derived 
its  intrinsic  zest  to  Vixanna's  mind  from  the  fact 


VIXANNA   DAW.  65 

that  it  was  committed  while  defying  the  lurid 
flames  of  an  avenging  conscience. 

Vixanna  had  her  specific  trials.  Perhaps  the 
gravest  of  these  was  the  semi-weekly  disentangle 
ment  of  her  locks,  which  she  effected  by  means  of 
a  fine-tooth-comb.  My  Dick  well  remembers  that 
the  place  chosen  by  Vixanna  Daw  for  the  display 
of  this  interesting  feature  of  her  toilette  was  on  the 
sunny  south  piazza  of  the  house  at  Dymsbury 
Park,  and  that,  during  its  performance,  she  made 
no  attempt  to  conceal  her  sufferings,  but  gave  vent 
to  many  crisp  expressions  of  objurgation  as  well  as 
of  woe,  while  a  retinue  of  children,  awed  but 
ever  faithful,  stood  by  and  regarded  the  contortions 
of  their  star  in  silent  commiseration. 

Those  who  had  seen  Vixanna  only  when,  by 
reason  of  some  exigency  in  the  affairs  of  the  Dea 
con  Cadmus  Pinchon  family,  she  felt  called  upon 
to  assume  the  character  of  hostess,  or  on  any  other 
occasion  demanding  great  pomp  and  dignity  of 
demeanor,  could  have  little  conception  of  the 
buoyancy  of  which,  under  certain  circumstances, 
her  nature  was  capable  ;  and  few  were  the  days,  in 
the  happy  calendar  of  Vixanna's  reign,  that  did 
not  reveal  to  my  Dick  and  the  little  Pinchons, 


66  TOWHEAD. 

the  delights  of  some  new  and  marvellous  ad 
venture. 

But  there  came  a  day  at  last  —  and  Dick  may  be 
pardoned,  if  now,  in  maturer  years,  her  mind  still 
lingers  affectionately,  even  tearfully,  over  its  gro 
tesque  features  —  there  came  a  day,  when  good 
Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  and  his  wife  drove  off 
towards  the  west,  in  their  phaeton,  to  attend  a 
convention  of  the  potentates  of  the  church,  in  a 
town  some  twenty  miles  distant ;  and  Augustus 
Brown  and  sweet  Miss  Mollie  went  off,  all  happy 
and  unconscious,  in  the  rambling  farm-wagon  for  a 
drive  towards  the  golden  east ;  and  the  world  of 
Dymsbury  Park  was  left  to  Vixanna  Daw  and  her 
adoring  satellites. 

As  Vixanna  then  ascended  to  walk  upon  the 
roof  of  the  barn,  never  had  the  light  which  trans 
figured  her  countenance  appeared  at  once  so  bale 
ful,  yet  so  triumphant.  Something  of  the  complete 
ascendency  of  evil  over  good  in  her  nature  —  for 
the  time  being,  at  least  —  was  inferred,  when,  on 
descending,  she  observed  confidently,  "  Chilluns, 
de  Debbie's  got  me,  fo'  dis  day,  sho' ; "  and  she 
had  the  air  thereafter  of  abandoning  herself  to  the 
behests  of  that  dread  though  puissant  personage 


VIXANNA   DAW.  6j 

with  a  cheerfulness  which  had,  nevertheless,  been 
drained  of  its  last  element  of  religious  hope. 

And  then,  and  throughout  the  scenes  which 
animated  the  clay,  the  good  Excelluna  stood  by 
helplessly,  and  saw  visions  inscrutable,  and  pene 
trated  deep  into  the  realm  of  mysteries  ;  but  found 
no  comfort,  neither  through  her  mejums,  nor 
through  her  nigh-tos,  nor  through  her  fur-offs. 

My  Dick  Bodurtha  says  that  later  years  have 
held  for  her  few  moments  of  such  intense  and 
absorbing  interest  as  when,  having  covered  Vix- 
anna  Daw  at  her  own  suggestion  with  the  fallen 
maple  leaves  which  lay  by  the  roadside,  she 
and  the  little  Pinchons  concealed  themselves  be 
hind  the  fence  near  by  and  waited  for  the  victim, 
pedestrian  or  charioteer,  who  should  first  come 
down  that  way.  And  still  fresh  in  her  mind,  as 
though  it  had  been  yesterday,  is  the  expression  she 
saw  depicted  on  the  faces  of  those  hapless  way 
farers,  when  suddenly,  to  their  amazed  and  shrink 
ing  vision,  with  dusky  arms  outspread  and  glitter 
ing  teeth  agrin,  Vixanna  Daw  shot  upward  in  a 
giddy  vortex  of  dead  leaves. 

My  Dick  will  speak  in  the  same  fond  foolish 
fashion  of  the  manner  in  which,  on  this  same 


68  TOWHEAD. 

eventful  day,  Vixanna  Daw  rolled  down  a  long 
though  gentle  slope  in  a  barrel.  She  will  be  ear 
nestly  careful  to  relate  to  me  all  the  particulars  of 
that  performance  ;  that  the  barrel  was  of  vast  pro 
portions  and  formerly  employed  as  a  reservatory 
of  molasess  —  which  toothsome  substance  Deacon 
Cadmus  Pinchon  was  accustomed  to  purchase  for 
his  family  in  eccentric  quantities  ;  that  the  pre 
liminary  act  of  pushing  the  barrel  up  the  hill,  in 
which  she  and  the  little  Pinchons  cheerfully  parti 
cipated,  was  an  inspiring  though  a  laborious  one ; 
that  once,  as  they  paused  for  breath,  the  leviathan 
rolled  back  over  them  and  sought  the  base  of  the 
hill  again  ;  but  that  she  can  still  hear  Vixanna's 
voice  as  when,  successfully  embarked  at  length  on 
the  summit,  it  pealed  forth  from  the  sepulchral 
depths  of  the  barrel  : — 

"  Now  let  the  wil'  herricane  roa' 
Ag'inst  de  green  ebber-green  sho'," 

and  grew  quickly  fainter  in  the  distance  as  that 
immortal  one  sped  forth  on  her  mad  emprise ; 
and  that,  finally,  when  they  sought  her  at  the  bot 
tom  of  the  hill,  and  she  emerged  with  a  counten 
ance  dazed  but  beatific,  she  observed,  looking  off 
into  space,  and  smiling  a  little  absently  ;  "  Chilluns, 


VIXANNA   DAW.  69 

do  yon  wan'  to  know  what  Hebben  is  ?      It's  rollin 
down  hill  in  a  barrel." 

Nor  was  the  part  which  my  Dick  and  the  little 
Pinchons  played  in  this  day's  glory  wholly  a  pas 
sive  and  admiring  one.  By  the  time  Vixanna  had 
supplied  the  front-yard  with  the  facilities  of  a 
circus,  by  means  of  Mrs.  Deacon  Cadmus  Pin- 
chon's  clothes-line  suspended  among  the  tree 
branches,  they  had  aspired  to  the  true  spirit  of 
the  occasion,  and  fairly  vied  with  their  illustrious 
teacher  in  life-imperilling  manoeuvres  on  the  tight 
rope  and  trapeze. 

But  the  event  which  gave  the  day  its  fatal  sig 
nificance  occurred  towards  the  close,  although  the 
sun  had  not  yet  disappeared  over  the  western  bor 
der  ;  and  Vixanna  Daw  never  thoroughly  recovered 
from  this  blow. 

There  was  yet  one  vehicle  left  on  the  Deacon 
Cadmus  Pinchon  premises,  an  old,  paralyzed,  huge- 
jointed  chaise,  that  had  long  been  cast  off  from 
the  active  ways  of  life.  Down  in  the  Broad-brook 
meadow  grazed  a  horse  that  had  once  been  spir 
ited,  but,  by  reason  of  his  extreme  old  age,  curb 
and  bridle  had  been  for  years  to  him  unknown. 
This  horse  and  chaise,  in  a  manner  known  only  to 


70  TOW  HE  AD 

the  brain  of  Vixanna  Daw,  were  combined  in  one 
marvellous  instrument  of  flight,  and  she  and  her 
followers,  even  to  the  pale  and  impotent  Excel- 
luna,  perched  themselves  thereon. 

They  were  all  recovered  in  due  time,  my  Dick, 
the  little  Pinchons,  all,  and  restored  to  the  bosom 
of  the  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  family.  It  was 
believed  that  the  ancient  horse  disappeared  in  the 
red  flame  of  the  setting  sun,  towards  which  with 
one  last  supreme  swift  effort  he  had  winged  his 
flight.  At  all  events,  he  and  the  vehicle  to  which 
he  had  been  harnessed  were  seen  no  more. 

On  realizing  the  situation  after  his  return  from 
the  convention,  good  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon 
said  "Wa— al,"  with  almost  an  accent  of  surprise 
in  the  various  mild  inflections  of  his  voice  ;  and 
Mrs.  Pinchon  exclaimed,  "  The  Old  Cat'n  all !  "  — 
"the  Old  Cat"  being  the  severest  expression  to 
which  she  had  ever  been  known  to  give  ex 
pression  hitherto. 

Vixanna  escaped  unscathed  of  body,  but  as  she 
took  up  again  the  homely  routine  of  her  daily 
duties  her  aspect  was  characterized  by  a  deep 
mental  gloom.  "  Chilluns,'*  said  she  at  length  to 
that  vaguely  sympathetic  group  ;  "ef  you  wan's  to 


VI X ANN  A   DAW.  7 1 

know  wat's  de  cause  o'  my  'spondency  lately,  I 
spec's  I'se  got  r'igion.  Yes,"  she  repeated  hope 
lessly,  "  I'se  alias  been  a  dreadin'  of  it,  and  now  I 
spec's  I'se  got  it  sho'." 

After  this  the  clouds  never  exactly  lifted  from 
Vixanna's  spiritual  horizon,  though  after  a  time 
there  came  a  rift  in  them.  "  I  spec's,  chilluns," 
said  she  then ;  "dat  do'  I'se  got  r'igion  sho',  and  no 
help  fo't,  may  be  w'at  I'se  got  is  only  jes'  de  ordi 
nary  sabin'  quality,  an'  not  dat  pow'ful  I  had  along 
de  fus'  spell.  It's  one  thing,  chilluns,"  said  Vix- 
anna,  significantly;  "it's  one  thing,  chilluns,  to 
boas'  o'  alias  habbin'  libed  in  pious  fam'lies,  and 
know  dat  yo's  mighty  cute  at  'scussin'  t'ology,  and 
all  dem,  and  it's  anudder  thing  to  git  dis  yer  r'al 
pussonal  c'nvincin'  r'igion  onto  yer.  And  dar's 
two  qualities  o'  dis  yer  r'igion,  chilluns.  Dar's  de 
pow'ful  quality  dat  I  had  along  de  fus'  spell,  and 
den  dar's  jes'  de  ordinary  sabin'  quality.  And 
I've  had  my  'spicions  lately,"  said  Vixanna,  a  ray 
of  hope  breaking  over  her  long-darkened  features  ; 
"dat  may  be  w'at  I'se  got  is  only  jes'  de  ordinary 
sabin  quality. 

"  Still,  chilluns,"  she  continued,  after  a  pause ; 
"dar's  a  great  deal  to  conten'  for,  eben  jes'  in  de 


72  TOWHEAD. 

sabin'  quality.  Now  de  Debbie,  he  come  into  my 
room  de  odder  night  a  tem'pin'  ob  me.  He 
comes  in  and  sets  down,  and  says,  he  spec's  I  was 
turn  mighty  pious,  but  dar  was  some  things  he 
reckon  I  could'n'  pray  fo'  yit,  ho'n-bugs,  and  one 
thing  and  anudder,  he  mentions  'em  ober ;  and  I 
answers  him  right  up  peart  dat  I  could,  ebery  time. 
An'  finally  he  says  dey  was  one  thing  dat  he  bet 
his  meet'n-hat  I  could'n'  pray  fo'  'em,  an'  says  he, 
'  Dat's  ol'  bosses  dat  ain't  got  any  'scretion,'  says 
he,  an'  wunked  at  me  out  ob  de  co'na'  ob  his  eye. 
But  I'd  gone  so  fa'  den,  chilluns,  dat  I  wasn'  gwine 
ter  back  out,  not  ef  I  cl'ar  busted  myse'f  a  lyin',  so 
I  speaks  up  and  says  dat  I  could  pray  fo'  'em, 
mighty  peart,  too,  says  I. 

"  Den  de  Debbie,  he  shook,  an'  he  look  cl'ar 
h'a't-broken,  chilluns,  he  did,  an'  says  he,  'Vixy, 
yo'  was  de  brightes'  jewel  in  my  glory  crown.  I 
done  set  all  my  ca'ck'lations  on  yo',  Vixy,'  says  he, 
1  but  I  done  'low  I  shall  hab  to  gib  yo'  up.' "  Vix- 
anna  drew  a  long  sigh,  in  which  there  might  have 
been  detected  a  slight,  a  very  slight,  tinge  of 
regret. 

As  the  suns  rose  and  fell,  a  sinful  longing  began 
to  grow  within  Vixanna's  breast,  to  walk  once 


VTXANNA   DAW.  73 

more  upon  the  roof.  Sufficient  to  say,  that  she 
struggled  against  it,  but  in  vain.  It  haunted  her 
with  allurements  ever  fond  and  fresh.  An  Octo 
ber  eve  beheld  her  performing  that  gymnastic  feat 
with  a  recklessness  of  gesture  and  an  elasticity  of 
tread  never  before  exhibited  on  similar  occasions. 
After  this,  she  resigned  herself  to  her  fate,  with 
the  gloomy  consciousness  of  utter  unregeneracy. 
She  said,  and  there  was  the  unfamiliar  gleam  of  a 
tear  in  her  wild,  dark  eye,  that  "  Ri'gion  was  well 
enough  in  its  way,  but,  take  it  fo'  all  in  all,  dey's 
nuffin'  like  'scretion."  Gradually  she  seemed  to 
feel  the  need  of  an  entire  change  of  scene,  and 
formed  vague  plans  of  travel,  in  which  her  "  hus- 
ban's  "  figured  somewhat  spasmodically  as  objects 
of  search. 

One  night,  when  all  the  house  was  still,  a  dark 
figure  stole  noiselessly  into  the  room  where  the 
children  lay  asleep.  The  slowly  waning  light  of 
the  summer  evening  revealed  its  sorrowful  attitude, 
the  despondent  droop  of  the  thin,  black  hands.  It 
was  Vixy.  She  sat  down  and  proceeded  to  sing,  in 
a  voice  that  crept  into  the  children's  slumbers  like 
a  lullaby  from  Dreamland,  so  airy  though  so 
mournful  was  the  strain  :  — 


74  TOW  HE  AD. 

"  De  massa  ob  de  sheepfol'. 
Dat  guards  de  sheepfol'  bin, 
Look  out  in  de  gloomerin'  meadows, 
Wha'r  de  long  night  rain  begin  — • 
So  he  call  to  dehirelin'  shepa'd. 
'  Is  my  sheep,  is  dey  all  come  in  ?' 

"  Oh  den,  says  de  hirelin'  shepa'd; 
'  Dey's  some,  dey's  black  and  thin, 
And  some,  dey's  po'  ol'  wedda's ; 
But  de  res',  dey's  all  brung  in. 
But  de  res',  dey's  all  brung  in.' 

"Den  de  massa  ob  de  sheepfol', 
Dat  guards  de  sheepfol'  bin, 
Goes  down  in  de  gloomerin'  meadows. 
Wha'r  de  long  night  rain  begin  —  . 
So  he  le'  down  de  ba's  ob  de  sheepfol'. 
Callin'  sof ,  '  Come  in.     Come  in.' 
Callin'  sof,  '  Come  in.     Come  in.' 

"  Den  up  t'ro'  de  gloomerin'  meadows. 
T'ro'  de  col'  night  rain  and  win', 
And  up  t'ro'  de  gloomerin'  rain-paf , 
Wha'r  de  sleet  fa'  pie'cin'  thin, 
De  po'  los'  sheep  ob  de  sheepfol', 
Dey  all  comes  gadderin'  in. 
De  po'  los'  sheep  ob  de  sheepfol', 
Dey  all  comes  gadderin'  in." 

At  the  close,  Vixanna  shook  her  head,  and  said, 
in  a  broken,  pitiful  tone  of  voice,  "  Dey's  nuffin'  to 
de  wo'ds ;  oh,  dey's  nuffin'  to  de  wo'ds.  De 
music's  hebbenly,  but  dey's  nuffin'  to  de  wo'ds." 
However,  she  sang  them  over  again,  and  once 


VI X ANN  A   DAW.  75 

again,  and  then,  rising  and  groping  out  blindly 
before  her  with  her  hands,  for  the  room  had  grown 
quite  dark,  she  repeated  them  softly  to  herself,  and 
muttered,  with  a  sobbing  laugh,  in  undertone, 
"  Dey's  nuffin'  to  de  wo'ds.  De  music's  hebbenly, 
but  dey's  nuffin'  to  de  wo'ds."  She  stumbled  a 
little  at  the  door,  and  turned  with  a  quick  deprecat 
ing  gesture,  but  the  even  breathing  of  the  children 
fell  undisturbed  upon  her  ear.  Very  slowly  she 
turned  her  face  and  groped  her  way  down  the 
stairs. 

The  next  morning,  the  bed  in  Vixy's  room 
appeared  neat  and  undisturbed.  The  room  had 
been  carefully  swept  and  garnished.  The  high- 
backed  wooden  chair  had  been  set  with  punctilious 
neatness  against  the  wall.  By  its  side,  with  an 
almost  human  appeal  in  its  reclining  attitude,  stood 
the  feather-duster  with  which  Vixy  had  been  wont 
to  battle  with  the  horn-bugs  —  but  Vixy  had  gone 
away. 


76  TOW  HE  AD. 


CHAPTER   V. 

JOB  TRENCH,  THE  CHORE-BOY,  AND   BEAUTIFUL 
AUGUSTUS   BROWN. 


mourned  for  Vixanna  Daw  ;  and  when 
the  leaves  had  all  fallen  from  the  trees,  and 
the  wind  wailed  about  the  house,  and  the  great 
front  gate,  touched  by  no  human  hand,  swung 
open  on  its  hinges,  she  listened  eagerly  for  the 
tread  of  the  lithe  feet  that  never  came  back  to 
Dymsbury  Park. 

But  the  winter  days  came  and  they  were  full  of 
pleasures.  Then  had  the  good  Excelluna  less  fre 
quent  recourse  to  her  fur-offs,  while  she  made  still 
vaster  researches  in  the  metaphysical  realm  open 
to  her  mejums  and  her  nigh-tos.  Much  she  pon 
dered  her  Bible,  but  was  even  more  frequently 
discovered  perusing  those  pages  which,  to  her 
mind,  constituted  the  flower  of  all  human  produc 
tions,  the  gem  of  all  literature,  "Fox's  Book  of 
Martyrs." 


JOB    TRENCH,    THE   CHORE-BOY.  77 

"Whoever,"  Excelluna  had  been  heard  to  say, 
with  solemn  enthusiasm ;  "  whoever  writ  that  book, 
or  through  whom  or  by  whom  that  most  wondrous 
book  was  wrat,  is  to  me  unbeknownst,  but  I  hev  my 
suspicions  "  — and  here  her  forefinger  sought  her 
lips  and  her  eyes  rolled  upon  her  listener  with  that 
look  of  deeply  hidden  meaning  :  but  she  never 
revealed  who,  to  her  mind,  had  committed  the  un 
paralleled  deed,  and  had  once  been  known  to  treat 
a  suggestion  of  Vixanna  Daw's,  that,  "Perhaps  de 
ol'  fox  hisse'f  writ  it,"  with  justly  contemptuous 
disdain. 

Excelluna's  Book  of  Martyrs  was  an  illustrated 
edition,  and  it  was  a  never-failing  source  of  won 
der  to  those  who  knew  her,  how  that  exquisitely 
tender  and  compassionate  soul  could  devour  its 
ghastly  contents  with  such  evident  relish,  even 
with  an  expression  of  positive  delectation.  There 
was  one  picture  especially,  representing  the  writh- 
ings  of  a  victim  impaled,  over  which  Excelluna 
was  accustomed  to  gloat  with  an  unaccountable 
fondness,  and  sometimes  fell  asleep  with  a  look  of 
awful  entertainment  on  her  features,  and  a  finger 
glued  affectionately  to  the  blood-curdling  spectacle. 
Or,  amid  scenes  of  mirth  and  merry-making,  while 


78  TOW  HE  AD. 

Dick  and  the  little  Pinchons  revelled  in  the  odor 
of  parching  corn  and  cooling  taffy,  from  that  dim 
corner  where  Excelluna  sat  a  voice  would  be  heard 
to  arise,  as  she,  in  her  utter  abstraction,  jubilantly 
announced  aloud  the  headings  of  the  awful  chron 
icle  :  "  Four  mart-yi-ers  plunged  in  a  bag  of  vent- 
yu-mous  snakes  !  "  "  Seven  mart-yi-ers  simon-tail- 
i-ously  kill-ed  in  co-old  blood  !  "  And  yet  Excelluna 
was  constitutionally  incapable  of  killing  a  fly.  She 
had  a  pathetic  yearning  towards  all  the  weak  and 
suffering  in  nature,  and  saw  a  face  of  human  sor 
row  in  every  stricken  flower. 

It  was  with  another  spring,  that,  to  the  hearty, 
rollicking  life  at  Dymsbury  Park,  there  came  for 
my  Dick  a  wonderful  shadow  and  the  echo  of  a 
deeper  meaning.  Among  the  places  expressly  for 
bidden  to  Dick  and  the  little  Pinchons,  and  — 
though  not  directly  in  consequence  of  the  threat, 
perhaps,  —  at  all  events,  most  resorted  to  by 
them,  was  a  ledge,  a  half  mile  or  more  distant 
from  the  house,  known  as  "Craggy  Head."  On 
the  occasions  when  they  surreptitiously  fled  to  this 
fascinating  spot,  Job  Trench,  guided  by  some  mys 
terious  instinct,  as  they  believed,  invariably  discov 
ered  and  followed  them  —  not  for  sport, — poor  Job 


JOB   TRENCH.    THE   CHORE-BOY.  79 

was  not  subject  to  such  childish  weaknesses.  He 
was  the  one  weary,  plodding  member  of  the  house 
at  Dymsbury  Park,  a  character  entirely  self-im 
posed,  and  sustained  in  the  face  of  all  discourage 
ments  ;  and  he  followed  the  children  in  the  same 
joyless,  faithful,  mechanical  fashion  that  he  was 
accustomed  to  perform  his  ordinary  duties  about 
the  house  and  farm. 

"  There's  no  u'se  in  tellin'  on  'em  to  the  folks," 
Job  observed  to  Excelluna,  who  approached  near 
est  to  him  in  point  of  sympathy ;  "  they  talk  to 
'em,  but  it  don't  hender  their  goin'  thar  jest  the 
same.  And  you  tag  around  after  'em  patient 
enough,  but  the  little  imps  makes  out  to  dodge  ye, 
whenever  they  has  a  mind  to  ;  and  by  and  by," 
said  Job  Trench,  referring  to  young  Dick  Bodurtha 
with  a  dull  matter-of-fact  recognition  of  worldly 
estimates  —  "  by  and  by,  there'll  be  one  of  these 
rich-family  high-toned  ones  gone  plump  headlong 
over  that  precerpice."  So  Job  Trench  kept  a  sharp 
eye  on  all  the  paths  that  led  to  "Craggy  Head." 

One  day,  as  the  children  amused  themselves  by 
throwing  stones  over  the  ledge,  and  Job  Trench 
sat  gloomily  by,  Dick  suddenly  parted  from  the 
rest  of  the  group,  and  ere  a  hand  could  be 


80  TOWHEAD. 

stretched  out  to  detain  her,  with  a  wild  shout  of 
glee  the  fearless,  thoughtless  child  had  clambered 
out  upon  the  branches  of  a  dwarf  tree  that  grew 
sheer  out  from  the  face  of  the  precipice.  But  re 
turn  looked  difficult,  and  the  shrub  bent  danger 
ously  under  the  child's  light  weight. 

"  I've  been  expectin'  it,"  said  Job  Trench  then, 
in  a  dull,  slow  tone  of  resignation  ;  but,  so  quick 
was  he  in  action  that  not  the  first  look  of  startled 
wonder  had  crept  into  the  eyes  of  the  child,  hang 
ing  there  below,  ere  he  had  climbed  out  to  her 
relief.  Then,  as  Cadmus  Pinchon's  sturdy  arms 
received  her  from  above,  the  light  tree  broke  be 
neath  Job  Trench's  straining  feet  and  he  fell. 

It  was  good  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  himself 
who  carried  the  poor  chore-boy  home  in  his  arms  ; 
and  they  laid  him  on  a  white  bed  in  a  great  chamber, 
and  were  very  tender  and  pitiful  over  him,  but  Job 
Trench's  wounds  had  gone  too  deep  for  cure,  and 
life  with  him,  said  the  Dymsbury  doctor,  was  a 
matter  of  hours  rather  than  days.  His  face, 
always  an  uncanny  one,  looked  positively  ugly  as 
it  lay  against  the  pillows,  stupid  and  frozen  in  its 
helpless  expression  of  agony.  Opening  his  eyes 
occasionally,  in  brief  moments  of  consciousness, 


JOB  TRENCH,    THE    CHORE-BOY.  8 1 

it  was  with  a  startled,  anxious  look  and  incoherent 
mutterings  of  alarm,  until  he  caught  sight  of  Dick 
Bodurtha's  sunny  head  in  the  room.  Then,  as  if 
realizing  his  duty  done,  his  eyes  would  rest  upon 
her  —  rest,  but  without  a  smile,  and  fade  out, 
wearily  satisfied,  in  the  light  of  her  golden  hair. 

Excelluna's  eyes  were  dim  and  red  with  weep 
ing.  "I  don't  worry  none  about  his  'tarnal  wel 
fare,"  she  sobbed,  in  answer  to  some  remark  of 
Mrs.  Cadmus  Pinchon's.  "  He  never  talked  much 
—  only,  when  the  time  come,  he  went  and  did  it. 
But,  to  think,  Miss  Deking  Cadmus,  how  I  have 
been  a  worryin'  because  it  seemed  as  though  there 
wa'n't  a  bein'  no  eddication  and  no  lessons  teached ! 
And  least  of  all  I  didn't  look  for  no  lesson  from 
that  poor  low-borned  looked-shy-of  thing  !  But  he 
has  teached  a  lesson,  Miss  Deking  Cadmus,  as  all 
the  schoolin'  and  governessin'  in  the  world  '11  never 
come  up  to !  No,  Miss  Deking,  I  don't  worry  none 
about  his  'tarnal  welfare.  More  than  that,  the 
very  first  night  I  come  here,  I  had  it  in  a  revela 
tion  as  God  lived  in  these  parts  —  and  I  shan't 
never  disbelieve  on't  now  —  never,  as  long  as  I 
live  !  " 

But  late  in  the  second  day,  Job  Trench's  pain- 


82  JOWHEAD. 

benumbed  features  relaxed  into  an  expression,  in 
telligent,  and  almost  fine.  He  spoke  distinctly  and 
with  his  usual  gravity.  "  The  sun's  a-comin  up 
over  them  poplars,"  he  said,  looking  very  intently 
before  him  ;  "I  must  drive  the  cows  to  pasture." 
He  made  a  patient  effort  to  rise,  but  fell  back 
weakly. 

"No,  poor  boy,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Pinchon,  with 
an  unusual  degree  of  unction  in  her  clear,  monoto 
nous  voice  ;  "  it's  night,  poor  boy  !  It's  growing 
night." 

Excelluna  lifted  her  finger  in  warning.  "  Hush  ! 
Miss  Deking  Pinchon,"  she  whispered,  solemnly. 
"  There  be  lands,  Miss  Pinchon,  where  it's  day 
when  it's  night  here  ;  and  there  be  lands,  Miss 
Pinchon,  where  there  ain't  no  night !  " 

But  Job  Trench  had  not  heard.  His  grave,  un 
seeing  eyes  wandered  over  the  figures  in  that 
shadowy  room  to  the  window  that  looked  off  to 
ward  the  east,  and  rested  there,  forever  seeing. 

So  there  crept  into  the  life  at  Dymsbury  Park 
the  wonderful  mysterious  shadow  of  the  grave  —  a 
shadow  more  wonderful  than  sad,  since  the  poor 
chore-boy's  dreary  face  reflected  such  strange  pre 
science  of  an  unearthly  dawn.  And  often  now, 


BEAUTIFUL  AUGUSTUS  BROWN.  83 

from  the  familiar  melody  of  birds  and  brooks  about 
Dymsbury  Park,  my  Dick  Bodurtha  turns  and 
listens  :  for,  down  among  the  meadow  grasses,  as 
they  darken,  swept  by  the  light  breath  of  a  sum 
mer  cloud,  she  hears  a  sound  like  a  flute  note, 
plaintive  and  sweet  and  low,  that  rises  ever  fainter 
and  more  clear;  and  she  tells  Excelluna — and 
Excelluna  listens,  with  a  rapt  face  and  her  ear  bent 
to  the  earth,  and  a  look  of  unutterable  enlighten 
ment  creeps  over  her  features  ;  for,  yes,  she  hears 
it,  too. 

It  was  not  long  after  Job  Trench's  death  that : 
"  I  will  tell  you  a  story,"  said  Augustus  Brown. 
"  It  is  a  story  which  Deacon  Pinchon  and  Mrs. 
Pinchon  should  hear,  too" — for  it  chanced  that 
the  family  was  all  gathered  then  in  the  long  sit 
ting-room.  "  I  beg  that  you  will  all  give  me  a 
few  moments  of  your  earnest  attention." 

The  children,  silenced  by  this  announcement, 
hung  breathless  and  expectant  on  the  lips  of  their 
oracle.  But  what  meant  that  hard  and  unusual 
resolution  in  the  speaker's  tone,  and  the  extreme 
pallor  which  overspread  his  countenance  ?  Beau^ 
tiful  Augustus  Brown  hesitated  ;  his  hand,  thrown 
lightly  on  the  back  of  a  chair,  trembled  ;  his  eyes 


84  TOW  HE  AD. 

gleamed  with  an  unsteady  light  ;  and  for  once,  he 
whose  speech  had  ever  been  fluent  and  golden, 
seemed  to  find  no  words  wherewith  to  express  his 
meaning. 

A  terrible  premonition,  like  a  chill  wave,  crept 
over  Excelluna's  soul.  Since  Job  Trench's  death, 
she  had  stood  in  a  sort  of  awe  of  herself  and  all  the 
inhabitants  of  Dymsbury  Park,  regarding  it  as  the 
peculiar  seat  of  Divinity,  and  knowing  not  in  what 
form  He  might  next  be  manifested.  And  now,  as 
she  looked  upon  Augustus  Brown's  suffering  face, 
she  would  fain  have  made  something  lighter  of  it, 
and  could  not  bear  that  it  should  be,  as  she  divined, 
beyond  the  reach  of  remedy.  Seizing  her  Book  of 
Martyrs,  she  rushed  forward  and  whispered  eagerly 
in  his  ear  :  "  Take  it,  A'gusto  Brown.  Present  it 
to  her  !  I  know  not  what  has  been  the  difference 
betwixt  you  and  Miss  Mollie,  but  sech  a  gift  as 
this,  A'gusto  Brown,  I  am  certing  she  will  not  re 
fuse.  Whatever  has  been  the  difference,"  said 
Excelluna,  holding  out  her  precious  volume  with 
one  last  fond  clinging  grasp  ;  "  present  this  to  her, 
A'gusto  Brown,  and  all  may  yit  be  well." 

Very  kindly  and  sadly  poor  Augustus  Brown 
smiled  upon  Excelluna  and  shook  his  head. 


BEAUTIFUL  AUGUSTUS  BROWN.  85 

Excelluna  gasped  for  breath.  The  tears  came. 
She  made  a  desperate  plunge  into  her  pocket  and 
brought  forth  her  beloved  bottle  of  paregoric. 
"Take  it  !  "  she  murmured  quickly,  in  an  almost 
inaudible  tone  ;  "  take  it  !  A'gusto  Brown.  I  have 
generally  found  it  serficient  to  tetch  the  tongue, 
but  there  might  be  cases,  A'gusto  Brown  — 
there  might  be  cases  in  which  I  would  advise  a 
teaspoonful.  It  ain't  a  cure  —  oh,  I  know  there 
ain't  no  cure,  A'gusto  Brown,  but  I  have  some 
times  thought  that  it  was  a  kind  of  a  perventative." 

But  when  Augustus  Brown  shook  his  head  again, 
looking  so  kindly  and  sadly  upon  Excelluna,  the 
good  soul  replaced  her  treasures  with  the  look  of 
one  stricken  to  the  heart,  and  turned  hopelessly 
away. 

"  It  is  a  true  story,"  Augustus  Brown  then  went 
on.  "  It  is  not  long.  There  was  a  lad  —  his  true 
name  is  Wilfred  Knight  —  born  in  England  of  re 
spectable  parents.  They  acquired  wealth ;  they  lived 
splendidly  and  lavished  favors  upon  him,  their  only 
child.  He  had  tutors  and  travelled  whithersoever 
he  would.  It  was,  as  they  believed,  through  the 
treachery  of  another  firm,  his  father's  fortune  fell 
with  a  crash.  The  wretched  man  became  insane ; 


86  TOWHEAD. 

the  mother  died.  The  lad  was  maddened  with 
grief  and  terror.  He  had  been  educated,  but  not 
as  one  who  should  ever  need  to  employ  any  craft 
or  profession  of  his  own.  His  moral  sense,  God 
knows,  was  crude.  He  was  adrift  on  the  world  — 
he  found  companions  enough.  He  had  not  cared 
for  grovelling  vices  hitherto ;  now  he  drank  wildly  ; 
he  lay  one  night,  drunk,  on  the  street. 

"  One  night  they  planned  a  robbery,  he  and  his 
companions.  It  was  on  the  bank  through  whose 
means  he  believed  his  father  had  been  defrauded. 
He  was  drunk  —  the  most  reckless  and  adven 
turesome  of  them  all.  They  accomplished  the  feat 
with  mad  daring,  and  escaped.  Afterwards,  one 
night,  he  heard  them  talking  as  though  he  might 
prove  troublesome  to  them.  He  fled  secretly  ;  he 
had  none  of  the  booty.  He  escaped  to  America. 
Later,  he  learned  through  the  newspapers  that 
the  three  had  been  captured.  They  had  given  evi 
dence  against  him  ;  search  was  being  made  for 
him.  He  wandered  down  into  Connecticut.  He 
was  penniless  ;  he  let  himself  to  a  good  man  as  a 
farm-laborer.  They  never  discovered  him. 

"  In  that  quiet,  sheltered  spot,"  continued  Au 
gustus  Brown,  with  greater  composure  of  voice  as 


BEAUTIFUL  AUGUSTUS  BROWAT.  8/ 

his  face  grew  gradually  more  and  more  like  the 
face  of  one  dead ;  "  the  anger,  the  madness,  the 
wretched  passion  faded  out  of  his  soul.  He  even 
had  something  of  the  poet  in  his  nature.  Fields, 
streams,  and  woods  grew  conscious  and  dear  to 
him.  He  developed  a  faculty  for  dreaming.  But 
conscience  was  not  yet  awakened  in  him  ;  that  was 
not  till  she  came,  the  pure,  sweet  girl  whose  inno 
cent  trust  subdued  the  lingering  trait  of  vice  in 
his  nature,  whose  generous  love  conquered  the 
selfishness  of  his  passion  and  transformed  it  into  a 
devotion,  noble,  and  pure,  and  worthy  "  —  Augus 
tus  Brown's  eyes  flashed  light  and  his  voice  rang 
out  clearly  — "  of  any  man  who  should  dare  to 
say  he  loves  her  ! 

"And  though  the  love  which  woke  his  better 
nature  into  life  could  not  then  spare  her  who  had 
inspired  it,  he  would  not,  though  he  desired  her 
above  all  things,  cause  her,  unsuspecting,  to  as 
sume  the  disgrace  of  his  name.  Yet  he  shrank 
from  revealing  the  dark  past.  He  hesitated,  heart 
broken  for  her  and  for  himself.  He  has  resolved 
to  hesitate  no  longer,  neither  to  conceal  nor  fly 
from  his  disgrace.  He  will  return  to  England, 
submit  himself  to  the  authorities,  suffer  the  pen- 


88  TOWHEAD. 

alty  for  his  crime.  So  that,  if  he  ever  start  again 
in  the  world  —  if  he  ever  shall,  God  knows  —  it 
shall  be  fairly  in  the  sight  of  man,  and  well  in  the 
sight  of  Him  whom,  above  man,  he  has  learned  to 
honor. 

"  My  friends,"  said  beautiful  Augustus  Brown, 
rising,  white  but  calm,  and  with  a  perfect  com 
mand  of  voice  and  gesture,  as  his  eyes  rested 
steadfastly  on  good  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pinchon,  "  I 
thank  you  for  your  unworldly  goodness.  Believe 
me,  if  I  had  been  made  a  subject  of  prayer 
amongst  all  the  churches  in  Christendom,  if  I  had 
been  made  in  these  two  years  to  surfer  the  tortures 
of  the  rack,  it  could  not  have  awakened  in  me  the 
infinite  sorrow  and  remorse  which  I  have  expe 
rienced  in  this  gentle,  unsuspecting  household. 
Believe  me,  too,  when  I  tell  you  that  I  have  played 
no  double  part  here.  The  life  into  which  you  have 
permitted  me  to  enter,  has  been  with  me  only  the 
deepest  expression  of  the  heart.  I  thank  you  for 
all.  I  pray  your  forgiveness  for  all.  I  bid  you 
farewell. 

"  Mary,"  said  Augustus  Brown,  turning  to  sweet 
Miss  Mollie,  whom  they  all  loved,  as  she  sat  with 
her  face  bowed  in  her  hands  ;  "  here,  in  the  pres- 


BEAUTIFUL  AUGUSTUS  BROWN.  89 

ence  of  those  before  whom  you  have  been  so 
grieved  and  wronged" — but  here  a  look  of  un 
bearable  agony  crossed  his  face,  and  he  forgot  that 
there  were  any  save  they  two  in  the  room  as  he 
fell  on  his  knees  before  her.  A  pathos  deeper 
than  that  of  tears  crept  into  his  voice. 

"  Dearest,  the  heart  that  was  won  to  you,  in  the 
sunny  unawakened  days  when  first  I  knew  you, 
was  not  a  fickle  one.  But  the  heart  that  you  woke 
to  a  better  life,  the  sweet,  terrible  struggle  of  faith 
and  repentance,  and  to  the  anguish  of  love  that,  for 
love's  sake,  must  forego  the  dear  possession  of  its 
object,  holds  you,  loves  you,  cherishes  you  for  all 
time.  Yet  your  life  should  be  a  happy  one,  free 
from  taint  or  shadow.  Let  the  past,  blameless  to 
you  as  to  an  angel,  fade  from  your  mind.  But  oh, 
my  lost  love,  before  I  go  away  from  you  forever, 
though  you  never  look  at  me  again,  reach  out  your 
hand  and  touch  me,  —  touch  me  once  more  in 
token  of  forgiveness  !  " 

When,  at  those  words,  dear  Miss  Mollie,  who 
had  ceased  weeping,  lifted  up  her  face,  they  saw 
that  it  had  grown  in  so  few  moments  to  be  a  wo 
man's  face,  tender,  and  true,  and  strong.  And 
they  saw  her  stoop  down  with  infinite  love  and 


90  TOWHEAD. 

compassion  towards  him  who  knelt  there  at  her 
feet,  and  lift  his  sorrowful,  stricken  head  and  fold  it 
to  her  bosom. 

Ah,  well  —  I  who  write  this  know  that  Augustus 
Brown  will  come  back  again  with  honor  and 
wealth,  when,  for  his  hard-earned  reputation,  the 
gray  has  crept  early  into  his  hair ;  and  sweet 
Miss  Mollie  will  wait  for  him,  while  a  beauty 
deeper  than  that  of  the  dimples  chastens  her 
lovely  face.  But  the  song  of  the  thrush  in  the 
lone  Dymsbury  woods,  at  evening,  was  not  sadder 
than  that  parting. 

Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  felt  sensibly  the  loss 
of  the  handsomest,  most  intelligent  and  helpful, 
hired  man  that  he  had  ever  known.  For,  though 
Augustus  Brown  had  devoted  some  hours  to 
aesthetic  pursuits  and  to  love-making,  the  sagacity 
and  wit  displayed  in  his  moments  of  toil  had 
caused  his  services  to  assume  a  peculiar  value. 
As  for  Mrs.  Pinchon,  she  had  found  the  story  a 
strangely  disconnected  and  incomprehensible  one. 
She  never  really  understood  why  Augustus  Brown 
went  away,  and,  at  any  subsequent  mention  of  his 
name,  her  eyes  were  seen  to  assume  their  vaguely 
thoughtful,  introverted  expression. 


BEAUTIFUL  AUGUSTUS  BROWN.  91 

But  Excelluna,  poor  Excelluna,  knew  and  under 
stood  with  that  truest,  deepest  intuition  of  the 
heart.  Long  were  her  eyelids  swollen  with  weep 
ing,  yet  wore  she,  withal,  the  calm  of  a  transcen 
dent  triumph." 

"  Ever  and  a  darlin'/'  said  she  to  the  invisible 
spirit  of  her  wandering  charge ;  "  it's  all  well 
enough,  this  bein'  of  a  forring  juke,  but  there  is 
things  as  is  more  exceedingly  betterer  by  fur, 
even  than  bein'  of  a  forring  juke,  and  that  beauti 
ful  A'gusto  Brown  discovered  what  it  was.  And, 
ever  darlin',  don't  let  me  never  say  no  more  im- 
pitous  words  about  your  bein'  not  brung  up  and 
about  you  not  gettin'  nothin'  nowise  extry  of  an 
eddication  ;  for,  in  revelation  after  revelation,  have 
I  been  teached  that  it  ain't  no  small  thing  to  be 
brung  up  in  the  same  place  along  o'  God." 

And  now  there  comes  another  voice  to  the  wild 
beauty  of  Dymsbury  Park  ;  for  when  the  west  wind 
calls  shrilly  from  over  the  mountains,  Dick  lis 
tens,  and  she  hears  a  sound  like  a  bugle  note, 
jubilant  and  sweet,  and  that  rises  ever  fainter  and 
more  clear ;  and  she  has  no  need  to  tell  Excelluna, 
for  Excelluna,  listening  with  hushed  breath,  nods 
her  head  in  solemn  confirmation, 


g2  TOWHEAD. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

AT   SCHOOL   IN   THE    SADDLE. 

A  FTER  Miss  Mollie  Evelyn  went  to  her  home, 
the  air  of  Dymsbury  Park  proved  unfavorable 
to  governesses.  There  came  those  skilled  in  all 
knowledge,  and  conversant  with  all  forms  of  eti 
quette,  but  none  who  possessed  the  happy  secret 
of  sweet  Miss  Mollie's  method.  These  erudite 
females  remained  at  Dymsbury  Park  for  periods 
of  time  uniformly  brief,  and  Mr.  Higgins  was  on 
this  account  reduced  to  a  condition  of  much  per 
plexity,  almost  of  despair. 

He  felt  obliged  at  length,  though  regretfully,  on 
account  of  the  lady's  low  physical  condition,  to 
write  to  Dick's  aunt,  Mrs.  Bodurtha,  that  there 
seemed  to  be  a  sad  inability  on  the  part  of  modern 
governesses  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  evidently 
happy  state  of  things  at  Dymsbury  Park ;  that 
good  Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon  and  his  wife  were, 
as  she  had  divined,  the  most  amiable  and  estimable 


AT  SCHOOL  IN  THE  SADDLE.  93 

people  ;  that  little  Miss  Dick  seemed  supremely 
content  with  the  life  at  Dymsbury,  and  to  derive 
unbounded  delight  from  the  companionship  of  the 
little  Pinchons  ;  that,  in  short,  the  only  difficulty 
in  carrying  out  the  plan  of  her  youthful  education 
seemed  to  be  a  fatal  incompatibility  in  the  nature 
of  governesses. 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  replied  that  she  had  sometimes 
feared  the  worst ;  that  nothing  but  the  warning  of 
her  physicians  could  have  prevented  her  from 
taking  personal  charge  of  her  poor  dear  sister's 
poor  dear  wilful  child  ;  that  she  was  not  recovering 
her  wasted  energies  with  the  rapidity  she  had 
hoped  for  from  her  stay  abroad,  but  that  as  soon 
as  it  was  possible  for  her  to  do  so  she  should 
return  to  assume  the  care  of  little  Miss  Bodurtha. 

At  this  last  clause,  Excelluna  was  again  trans 
formed  into  a  bitter  fountain  of  tears,  and  Dick 
clenched  her  fists  in  hopeful  defiance.  A  few 
weeks  later,  news  came  that  Mrs.  Bodurtha  was 
prostrated  with  a  fever,  from  which  it  was  likely 
to  be  long  ere  she  would  recover,  and  still  longer 
ere  she  would  be  permitted  to  return  to  take  up 
any  new  burdens  and  responsibilities ;  at  which 
painful  intelligence,  it  must  be  said,  the  tumult 


94  TOWHEAD. 

awakened  in  the  bosom  of  my  Dick  and  that 
ancient  serving-woman  was  lulled  into  a  remorse 
less  calm. 

Meanwhile,  Cadmus  Pinchon  Junior,  who  had 
become  a  sturdy,  though  bookless,  attendant  at 
the  district  school,  lured  Dick  Bodurtha  thither 
by  means  of  a  glowing  and  graphic  description  of 
the  diversions  to  be  found  at  that  humble  seat  of 
learning.  Dick  found  the  entertainments  of  the 
place,  indeed,  rich  and  varied,  but  hardly  sufficient 
to  compensate  for  a  certain  pungent  lack  of  venti 
lation  in  the  school-room  ;  so  that,  after  a  brief 
trial,  although  she  was  frequently  on  hand  to  par 
ticipate  in  the  out-of-door  sports  of  the  children  at 
recess,  she  concluded  to  forego  entirely  the  de 
lights  of  the  interior. 

Swiftly  the  happy  months  flew  by  ;  and,  as  one 
after  another  the  little  Pinchons  became  matricu 
lated  at  the  district  school,  and  her  companions, 
Ruth  and  Cadmus,  passed  from  that  to  the  acad 
emy,  wilful  Dick  took  up  her  solitary  enjoyments. 
There  was  a  horse  in  the  "  star  window  "  stable  of 
the  old  barn  that  had  gradually  come  to  be  re 
garded  as  her  peculiar  property,  —  an  animal,  not 
of  the  arch-necked  and  flowing-maned  species,  but 


AT  SCHOOL   IN  THE  SADDLE.  95 

possessing  qualities  suggestive  of  an  adaptability 
to  great  practical  speed.  Dick  had  first  conceived 
an  affection  for  this  gaunt,  long-limbed  brute  when 
it  had  been  a  sickly,  unpromising  colt  in  the 
meadows,  and  she  had  there  surreptitiously  minis 
tered  to  its  woes  ;  and  she  now  disdained  all  good 
Deacon  Cadmus  Pinchon's  offers  of  sleeker  quad 
rupeds  in  exchange,  as  promising  but  a  tame  sub 
stitute  for  the  racking  trot  and  furious  gallop  of  her 
favorite,  ugly  steed.  In  the  garret,  among  the 
relics  of  her  family,  she  found  saddle  and  bridle, 
and  she  purchased  a  velvet  jockey-cap  that  shaded 
her  handsome  eyes  and  crested  with  extreme  jaun- 
tiness  her  shock  of  loose,  light  hair.  Then  she 
had  her  row-boat  on  the  river,  and  she  could  swim, 
and  when  winter  changed  the  form  of  one  dear 
element,  she  vied  gloriously  with  the  Dymsbury 
lads  on  skates.  The  gaunt,  fleet  horse  she  rode 
through  all  seasons.  In  sun  or  wind  or  rain  her 
face  never  lost  its  exquisite  clearness  of  complex 
ion,  but  the  small  hands  that  tugged,  for  the  most 
part  ungloved,  at  the  bridle  or  the  oar,  became 
brown,  and  marked  with  numerous  historic  and 
descriptive  scars. 

Sometimes  Dick  sighed  for  feats  of  companion- 


g6  TOWHEAD. 

ship,  and  went  drowning  "  woodchucks  "  out  of  their 
holes,  or  launching  shaky  rafts  on  the  river  with 
some  bright  lads,  habitual  truants  from  the  Dyms- 
bury  academy,  towards  whom  her  manner  was 
frank,  unembarrassed,  and  fraternal.  These  lads 
admired  her.  She  was  the  actual  heroine  of  the 
romances  over  which  they  pored  most  eagerly  — 
an  orphan,  dashing,  handsome,  fearless  ;  there  was 
no  feminine  glory  in  the  thrilling  tales  of  the  Vir 
ginian  backwoods  or  western  frontier  life  to  sur 
pass  her,  and  they  tendered  her  the  first  valiant 
homage  and  devotion  of  boyhood. 

In  her  wild  life,  Dick  was  careful  to  fortify  her 
self  mentally  against  the  shafts  of  learned  ridicule. 
There  was  a  perch  in  the  cherry-trees,  and  for 
rainy  days  a  loft  in  the  old  barn,  which  could  tes 
tify  to  fleeting  wafts  of  the  musty  atmosphere  of 
those  moth-eaten  volumes  which  Dick  brought 
thither  from  her  grandfather's  library,  and  to 
which  she-gave,  indeed,  desultory  moments  of  appli 
cation,  catching  here  and  there  stupendous  notions 
of  the  genesis  of  worlds  and  of  the  great  economy 
of  the  heavens,  detached  statements  from  vast  sys 
tems  of  ethics  and  philosophy  ;  and  when  Cadmus 
Junior,  in  whose  case  the  familiarity  born  of  long 


AT  SCHOOL  IN  THE  SADDLE.  97 

acquaintance  precluded  the  exercise  of  gallantry, 
taunted  her  with  her  ignorance,  she  hurled  back 
at  him  fragments  of  theories  so  abstruse  and 
words  of  such  ponderous  sound,  that  he  was  forced 
to  contemplate  in  abashed  silence  the  insignifi 
cance  of  his  own  attainments. 

Possibly  it  was  owing  to  the  theological  works 
in  which  she  dabbled  among  others,  but  Dick  con 
ceived  at  this  time  the  idea  of  being  a  woman- 
preacher.  She  indited  at  odd  moments  some  very 
inky  sermons,  and  delivered  them  with  great 
ornateness  of  tone  and  gesture,  the  good  Excel- 
luna  constituting  her  sole  but  ever  faithful  and 
attentive  audience.  Sometimes  Excelluna  aug 
mented  the  importance  of  the  occasion  by  wresting 
a  "  voluntary "  from  the  cracked  organs  of  her 
concertina,  an  instrument  the  full  enjoyment  of 
which  had  ever  been  denied  her  among  civilized 
circles,  but  to  which,  especially  when  accompanied 
by  Excelluna's  voice,  Dick  Bodurt'fea  listened  with 
undeniable  pleasure.  But  if  Cadmus  Pinchon 
Junior,  had  been  awed  by  the  display  of  Dick's  un 
usual  attainments,  what,  as  she  listened,  were  the 
emotions  of  the  solitary,  the  humble,  the  adoring 
Excelluna  ?  She  wept  and  she  smiled  ;  she  won 
dered  and  she  gasped  for  breath. 


98  TOWHEAD. 

"  And  I  have  been  a  worry  in'  about  your  bring- 
in'  up,  ever  and  a  darlin'  !  "  she  exclaimed,  in  satiri 
cal  accents.  "  Yis,  /,  /  have  been  a  worryin'  about 
your  eddication  —  and  in  all  the  ministers  that 
ever  I  have  heard  preach,  never  have  I  heard 
words  more  long-soundin'  or  more  beautiful  than 
has  fell  from  your  lips  to-day.  In  how  many  and 
a  many  more  revelations,"  she  continued,  with  in 
tense  self-scorn ;  "  will  it  have  to  be  impressed  onto 
me  that  you  are  a  bein'  brung  up  in  the  same 
place  with  God  !  " 

In  her  occasional  calm  and  philosophical  mo 
ments  Dick  found  a  singular  fascination  in  the 
society  of  the  ancient  serving-woman.  "Limy," 
said  the  girl  solemnly,  on  one  occasion,  proceeding 
to  draw  forthwith  from  her  copious  vocabulary, 
"You  seem  to  me  to  be  absolutely  simple  and  yet 
infinitely  profound." 

"  Ever  and  a  darlin',"  said  Excelluna,  by  no 
means  understanding  the  significance  of  those 
words,  but  impressed  beyond  measure  by  their 
ponderous  sound  ;  "  though  I  fear  that  I  have  not 
yet  attained  unto  sech,  it  has  been  and  shall  ever 
be  my  most  earnest  prayer  that  I  may  become 
so."  And  the  lingering  music  of  the  phrase  re- 


AT  SCHOOL  IN  THE  SADDLE.  99 

peated  itself  to  her  ear  in  cadences  ever  more 
solemn  and  sedate. 

It  chanced,  one  spring  time,  that  Deacon  Cad 
mus  Pinchon  gave  to  these  two  their  choice  of 
any  two  of  the  young  lambs  in  his  flock.  Excel- 
luna's  affections  yearned  instinctively  over  one  of 
a  triple  birth,  the  puniest  of  all,  bleating  and  mis 
erable  and  forsaken  of  its  mother ;  while  Dick 
Bodurtha,  in  proud  defiance  of  the  world  and  its 
conventionalities,  took  under  her  protection  the 
one  black  lamb  of  the  flock,  a  sorry  specimen  also, 
weak  and  disowned  of  its  kind.  The  wretched 
little  creatures  stood  but  uncertainly  on  their  long 
legs,  which  seemed  in  such  grotesque  dispropor 
tion  to  the  rest  of  their  bodies.  They  were  a 
pitiful  spectacle,  which,  contemplating  on  one  occa 
sion  :  — 

"Do  you  think  God  made  'em,  Limy?"  said 
Dick  Bodurtha,  a  mischievous  gleam  in  her  eyes. 

Excelluna's  faith  was  not  shaken,  but  her  look, 
as  she  stood  with  her  finger  pressed  against  her 
lips  and  her  eyes  downcast,  was  deeply,  thought 
fully  sad. 

"  Ever  and  a  darlin',"  said  she  at  length  ;  "  it  is 
true  that  them  lambs  of  ourn  air  not  what  is  gen- 


100  TOW  HE  AD. 

erally  spoke  on  as  healthy  appearin'  lambs.  They 
haven't  as  yit  got  none  of  them  lively  and  friskiful 
ways  which  is  generally  thought  on  as  so  inter- 
estiri  m  a  lamb.  No,  ever  darlin',"  said  she,  as 
the  sorrowful  objects  of  her  contemplation  faltered 
and  fell  weakly  over,  one  against  the  other ;  "  it  is 
true  that  they  air  not  sech  as  one  a  lookin'  for 
mere  liveliness  in  a  lamb  would  be  likely  to  pitch 
onto.  But,  ever  darlin',  amongst  all  them  lambs 
that  is  caperin'  around  their  mothers  thar  in  the 
pen,  amongst  all  them  happy  friskiful  lambs,  there 
is  not  one  that  has  got  sech  a  beautiful  religioust 
look  into  their  eyes  as  these  'ere  lambs  of 
ourn." 

And  it  was  true  that  under  their  hard  discipline  of 
pain  and  bereavement  the  pining  little  lambs  had 
acquired  something  of  a  human  piteousness  of  ex 
pression,  and  looked  something  of  a  human  re 
sponse  to  the  soft  caresses  and  faithful  care  of  their 
preservers.  Excellima  loved  Dick  for  that  most 
of  all.  Laughing,  heedless  girl  though  she  was, 
she  never  forgot  to  feed  her  lamb.  It  was  she  who 
woke  first  at  midnight ;  for  then  the  two  left  their 
warm  beds,  and  guided  by  the  dim  light  of  their 
lantern,  braved  the  night  and  the  ghastly  clatter 


AT  SCHOOL  IN  THE  SADDLE.  IOI 

of  startled  hens  and  horses  in  the  barn  to  feed  the 
motherless  lambs. 

It  was  all  in  vain.  The  strangely  human  eyes 
grew  daily  more  pleading  and  pathetic.  Excel- 
luna's  lamb  died  first,  and  that  simple,  compas 
sionate  heart  was  wrung  with  grief. 

"  You  shall  have  mine,  Limy,"  said  Dick  Bodur- 
tha,  watching  her  tears.  "  Take  mine." 

"  Ever  and  a  darlin',"  sobbed  Excelluna  then ; 
"  you  was  good  to  your  lamb.  You  was  as  good 
to  your  lamb  as  I  was  to  mine,  but  you  didn't  feel 
the  love  like  I  did,  elst  you'd  know  that  there 
couldn't  never  be  any  other  lamb  than  'ud  be  to 
me  like  that  lamb,  no,  never  !  " 

When  Dick's  lamb  died,  she  did  not  cry,  though 
she  tended  it  faithfully  to  the  last  ;  and  they 
buried  them  both  under  a  tree  in  the  orchard, 
where  the  flock  grazed  in  the  summer  time.  Dea 
con  Pinchon  offered  them  their  choice  again 
among  the  promising  young  of  his  flock,  but  they 
never  cared  for  any  others.  If,  when  the  sun 
made  a  golden  color  on  the  grass  in  the  sheep 
orchard  at  evening,  Excelluna,  through  her  fur- 
offs,  saw  visions  not  patent  to  less  gifted  eyes,  she 
never  spoke  of  them  ;  and  if  Dick,  who  loved  to 


102  TOWHEAD. 

watch  the  lambs  at  play,  thought  of  those  quiet 
ones  under  the  turf,  it  was  only  with  content 
because  their  wailing,  pitiful  little  lives  were 
ended. 

But  one  evening  as  my  Dick,  dabbling  latest  in 
astronomy,  stood  beneath  the  stars  and  discoursed 
to  the  wondering  Excelluna  of  suns  and  systems 
numberless,  over  Excelluna's  face,  as  she  stood 
gazing  upward,  there  suddenly  came  a  calm  and 
perfect  illumination. 

"And  if  that  be  so,  ever  and  a  darlin',''  said  she  ; 
"and  if  them  be  worlds  sech  as  you  speak  on, 
with  rivers  and  mountings  and  light  for  to  lighten 
'em,  then,  ever  darlin',  never  doubt  but  sonicivJicrc 
amongst  so  many  as  could  never  be  numbered, 
along  them  green  pastur's  and  beside  the  still 
waters  there'll  be  room  for  them  poor  little  sor- 
rerful  lambs  of  otirn." 

Then  it  was  that,  in  an  instant,  there  came  over 
my  Dick  Bodurtha's  sunny  eyes  a  wonderful  soul- 
shadow  like  an  inspiration,  deep,  grave,  beautiful  ; 
and  at  those  words  she  stooped  down  and  kissed 
the  ancient  serving-woman,  at  which  unusual  de 
monstration  Excelluna  stood  motionless,  beatified, 
beneath  the  stars. 


IT  HAS  COME.  103 


CHAPTER   VII. 

"IT  HAS  COME." 

TT  has  come,  ever  and  a  darlin' !  It  has  come  !" 
Dick  Bodurtha  was  untying  her  boat  down  by 
the  river  bank,  when  Excelluna,  running  breath 
less,  confronted  her  with  those  mournfully  tragic 
words.  That  pale  face,  those  heartbroken  ac 
cents,  Dick  knew  could  mean  but  one  thing ;  her 
aunt  had  returned  at  length  from  abroad.  Her 
first  impulse  was  to  jump  into  the  boat  and  push 
swiftly  down  stream.  Excelluna,  through  her 
tears,  did  not  detect  the  impulse  —  "  It  has  come, 
yis,  come,"  she  moaned ;  "  her  as  has  been  a  lookin' 
of  her  health  in  forring  parts." 

Dick's  hand  was  on  the  oar.  Excelluna  saw  at 
last. 

"Ever  and  a  darlin',"  said  she,  growing  sud 
denly  calm,  and  with  a  numb  despairing  dignity  in 
her  tone  which  arrested  the  girl's  wild  motion  — 
"  many  a  time  have  I  seen  you  rowin'  of  adown 
that  stream,  with  the  water  like  glass  and  the  sun 


104  TOWHEAD. 

a  shinin'  ;  and  many  a  time  have  I  seen  you,  not 
fearful  but  more  glad,  with  the  wind  a  blowin' 
and  the  waves  a  beatin'  hard.  But,  ever  clarlin', 
there  is  things  as  must  be  outgrowed.  Say  good 
bye  to  the  little  boat  now,  for  you  must  go  a  deeper 
and  a  further  down  the  stream  than  ever  the  little 
boat  will  carry  you." 

Dick  held  the  boat  motionless.  Her  eyes 
glanced  down  the  beckoning  river,  with  a  fine 
madness  in  them. 

"  Ever  darlin',''  Excelluna  went  on,  with  a  calm 
ness  born  of  a  heart-agony  too  deep  —  "  the 
stream  that  lies  before  you  is  a  long  one  and 
a  sparklin',  and  I  hear  your  laugh  afur  down 
and  I  ketch  the  gleamin'  of  your  hair,  and  it 
seems  ever  a  further  and  a  further  down,  and 
it  passes  out  of  sight.  So  was  you  the  light  of 
poor  old  Luny's  eyes,  you  was  the  light  as  her 
heart  lived  on,  but  now  it  is  a  passin'  out  of  sight, 
and  I  hear  the  music  of  it  afur  down  —  for,  ever 
darlin',  the  stream  as  I  am  sailin'  on  is  a  goin',  not 
fur  but  swift,  adark  and  lone  to  the  great  oshing." 

The  shadow,  the  wonderful  soul-shadow, 
quenched  the  fire  in  Dick's  eyes,  and  made  touch- 
ingly  sweet  the  expression  of  her  face.  She 


IT  HAS  COME.  105 

launched  the  boat  resolutely  and  climbed  the  bank 
to  Excelkma's  side. 

"I  won't  leave  you,  Limy,"  she  said.  "You 
shall  go  with  me,  wherever  I  go." 

"  I  thank  you,  ever  and  a  darlin',"  said  Excel- 
luna,  still  in  the  same  pathetic  way ;  "  but,  no,  it 
cannot  be,  never  no  more.  For  in  a  revelation 
have  I  seen  that  the  streams  must  be  divided,  one 
a  goin'  a  long  way  and  a  windin'  and  a  sparklin', 
and  the  other,  not  fur  but  swift,  ever  darlin',  alone 
to  the  great  oshing." 

As  the  two  walked  sadly  homeward  together 
through  the  familiar  fields,  Excelluna's  speech 
grew  more  commonplace,  though  it  was  after  a 
manner  sublimely  disconnected  :  — 

"  They  writ  as  they  was  a  comin',"  said  she  — 
"  so  we  wa'n't  no  more  expectin'  on  'em  than  the 
man  in  the  moon  —  and  there  was  yer  aunt  —  and 
a  nephy  of  Mr.  Higgins  —  as  she  brought  to  get 
ye  ready  for  school,  hearin'  as  ye  hadn't  got  on 
well  with  governesses,  and  it  'ud  call  for  modesty 
and  differdence  —  and  after  they  come,  Miss 
Deking  went  and  looked  in  Deking's  pocket  —  and 
thar  was  the  letter,  as  he  hadn't  never  thought  to 
take  it  out  from  that  time  to  this,  —  '  why,  the  Old 


106  TOWHEAD. 

Cat!'  says  she,  jest  as  slow  and  easy  as  words  was 
ever  pernounced. 

"  But  the  upshot  on  it  is,  as  you  air  a  goin'  to  be 
sent  to  a  vary  strict  and  religioust  school,  as  yer 
aunt  knows  on,  for  to  be  got  kinder  softened  ter 
begin  with,  and  ter  be  got  kinder  toned  down ;  and 
then  you  air  a  goin'  to  be  sent  to  high-toneder 
schools  for  to  be  toned  up.  And  she's  brought 
Mr.  Higginses  nephy,  hearin'  as  governesses  wa'n't 
no  use  —  and  him  bein'  so  bright  and  forring 
eddicated — a  sayin'  as  'twould  call  for  modesty 
and  diff erdence  —  for  to  get  you  ready  to  pass  the 
examernations  into  that  most  strict  and  religioust 
school,  as  you  must  be  sent  to,  ever  clarlin',  for  to 
be  got  toned  down." 

When  Mrs.  Bodurtha  beheld  her  niece,  she  was 
secretly  enraptured  with  her  beauty.  "  This  fine 
creature,"  she  commented,  silently;  "  must  be  duly 
redeemed  and  cultivated,  and  what  position  may 
she  not  occupy  in  society !  Yes,  she  has  sur 
passed  my  expectations,  both  in  grace  and  beauty 
of  person,  and  alas!"  the  lady  added;  "in  the 
need  which  I  see  for  corrective  and  softening  influ 
ences."  For  Dick's  cheek,  as  Mrs.  Bodurtha 
folded  the  girl  in  her  embrace,  was  turned  to  her 


IT  HAS  COME.  107 

aunt  in  a  manner  ungraciously  irresponsive.  The 
aunt  forgot  everything,  however,  in  a  sudden  glow, 
not  so  much  of  affection  as  of  enthusiasm  for  the 
future  glory  of  her  family,  to  be  attained  in  the 
lovely  person  of  Dick  Bodurtha.  "  You  must 
learn  to  love  me,  my  child,"  she  said,  and  relin 
quished  the  small  sunburned  hand,  as  she  gazed 
down  at  it  with  a  sigh. 

With  surprise  Mrs.  Bodurtha  watched  Dick's 
perfectly  frank  and  cordial  manner  towards  the 
bright  youth,  Scanlan  Higgins.  "  My  niece's  con 
duct,"  she  continued,  in  sarcastic  musing;  "is 
evidently  not  to  be  hampered  by  any  blushing  in 
stincts  of  timidity.  She  essays  to  express  her 
likes  and  dislikes  absolutely  without  hesitation  or 
embarrassment ;  a  privilege  which,  I  fear,  she  will 
be  obliged  to  forego  one  of  these  days,  when  she 
shall  have  learned  to  assume  some  things,  and, 
above  all,  not  hold  to  people  in  that  horribly  long, 
crude  way  with  her  eyes." 

The  young  ladies'  seminary  at  Mount  Grimrood, 
for  which  Dick  was  destined,  would  open  in  two 
weeks.  Two  weeks  had  Scanlan  Higgins  in  which 
to  test  Dick's  qualifications,  anxl  prepare  her  in 
whatever  might  be  found  wanting,  necessary  to  her 


108  TO  V/ HE  AD. 

success  in  passing  the  preliminary  examinations  of 
the  school. 

"  I  shall  win  her  confidence  first,"  said  the  tal 
ented  boy  to  Mrs.  Bodurtha  ;  "by  joining  her  in 
her  out-of-door  sports,  and  conversing  with  her 
quite  freely  and  naturally  on  indifferent  subjects." 
And  he  devoted  himself  so  enthusiastically  to  this 
pursuit  that,  led  on  by  Dick's  genius  and  daring,  it 
appeared  that  he  had  well  nigh  forgotten  at  last 
the  ostensible  object  of  his  mission  to  Dymsbury 
Park.  Their  voices  rang  merrily  on  the  river,  and 
the  roads  about  Dymsbury  Park  resounded  with 
the  clatter  of  their  horses'  hoofs. 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  mused  grimly  and  in  blank  dis 
may.  "  I  knew,"  said  she ;  "  from  the  first,  that 
I  was  fated  to  fail  wherever  I  touched  this  child's 
career.  In  placing  her  with  these  tenants  of  mine, 
I  subjected  her,  as  I  supposed,  to  the  most  rigor 
ous  and  uncompromising  discipline.  I  have  not 
yet  fully  realized  the  magnitude  of  my  mistake, 
but  I  have  seen  enough  to  know  that  it  has  been 
absolute  and  complete.  I  brought  Scanlan  with 
me  to  prepare  the  girl  in  her  studies,  thinking  it 
would,  if  anything,  call  for  the  exercise  of  maidenly 
modesty  and  reserve  on  her  part :  and  it  seems  that 


IT  HAS  COME.  109 

I  have  simply  furnished  the  whirlwind  with  a  play 
fellow." 

"  Have  you  won  my  niece's  confidence  yet, 
Scanlan?"  she  observed  with  cool  irony,  on  the 
sixth  day,  as  Scanlan  came  in  from  a  spirited  race 
with  Dick  on  horseback. 

Scanlan  Higgins,  who  was  a  good  lad,  blushed 
frankly  :  "  We  needn't  feel  any  concern  about  her 
education,  Mrs.  Bodurtha,"  he  said.  "  It  surprises 
me.  She  uses  magnificent  language,  and  quotes 
no  end  of  heathen  poets  and  philosophers." 

But  that  very  same  evening,  as  he  stood 
in  the  library  with  Dick,  he  was  moved  care 
lessly  to  pick  up  a  volume  from  a  pile  of  old  text 
books  on  the  floor,  and,  waving  his  hand  in  the 
direction  of  the  library  shelves,  "  Of  course  you 
know  more  about  all  this  sort  of  thing  than  I  do," 
he  said:  "but,"  he  continued,  laughing;  "I'm  afraid 
you  have  not  been  informed  that  I  came  here  for 
the  express  purpose  of  finding  out  the  vast  extent 
of  your  learning,  and  I  shall  now  proceed  with  the 
examination.  Will  you  oblige  me  by  performing 
this  example  ?  "  And  he  opened  an  arithmetic  at 
the  last  few  crucial  problems  in  fractions. 

Dick  glanced  slightly  at  the  problem,  and  then 


1 10  TOW  HE  AD. 

lifted  her  eyes  to  Scanlan's  face  with  a  mocking 
glance,  and  one  as  bright  and  dauntless  as  it  was 
incredulous.  Somehow  Scanlan  understood  she 
had  not  got  so  far  as  that.  He  was  shocked  and 
surprised,  but  he  cast  down  his  eyes  with  a  gentle 
and  apologetic  intention.  Dick  took  the  book,  and, 
turning  to  the  familiar  pages  of  simple  addition,  a 
mathematical  height  to  which  having  attained 
under  the  tuition  of  the  faithful  Excelluna,  both 
teacher  and  pupil  had  been  compelled  to  pause, 
there  revealed  the  traces  of  a  painful  and  arduous 
struggle.  From  the  labored  pencil-marks  on  the 
margin  of  the  page,  Scanlan  Higgins  saw  that, 

added  together,  — 

"9083 

8627 

equal      .        .        .      1761010," 
and  for  a  moment  he  was  speechless. 

Dick  never  lifted  her  wide,  intent  eyes  from  his 
face.  "  Is  it  right,  Scanlan  ?  "  she  said  at  length, 
in  a  tone  so  gentle  and  composed  that  the  youth 
started  violently. 

"  Right !  "  he  exclaimed,  forgetting  the  annoying 
problem  in  view  of  the  bewitching  beauty  of  the 
girl's  face  ;  "  it  is  inimitable  !  It  is  perfect, 


IT  HAS  COME.  Ill 

matchless  !  We  will  consider  the  examination  at 
once  and  forever  closed." 

Dick,  though  ignorant  of  arithmetic,  was  quick 
at  detecting  the  essences  of  things,  and  brave  in 
parrying  any  thrusts  which  might  tend  to  her  self- 
mortification.  She  continued  to  hold  the  heated 
youth  for  a  moment  in  what  Mrs.  Bodurtha  had 
termed  "that  long  crude  way  with  her  eyes,"  and 
then  coolly  turned  and  left  the  room. 

Dick  went  down  to  where  Cadmus  Pinchon 
Junior,  sat  on  the  fence,  in  the  starlight,  seeking 
solace  from  a  watermelon.  Cadmus  Junior  felt 
that  the  air  about  Dymsbury  Park  had  been  grow 
ing  desolate  of  late.  He  had  been  graduated  at 
the  Dymsbury  Academy,  and  was  going  away  in  a 
few  weeks  to  be  apprenticed  to  his  uncle,  a  wool 
merchant,  in  Boston.  Dick  was  going  away.  Dick 
was  occupied  with  her  tutor.  All  the  old  associa 
tions  were  being  broken  up.  There  was  a  vague 
feeling  of  sadness  in  Cadmus  Junior's  bosom,  but 
after  all,  his  supreme  sense  was  one  of  enjoyment 
in  the  watermelon. 

"  I'm  very  sorry  to  think  of  leaving  Dymsbury 
Park,  Caddie,"  said  Dick,  coming  up  in  the  old 
homelike,  confidential  way. 


112  TOWHEAD. 

"  I'm  some  sorry  I'm  goin'  away,"  said  Cadmus. 
"  But  I'm  goin'  inter  business,  and  I  shall  make 
lots  of  money.  Perhaps  some  of  these  fellows  that 
feel  so  big  and  know  everything  '11  be  glad  to  be  in 
my  shoes,  by  and  by." 

Dick  knew  that  Cadmus  referred,  though  with 
out  the  poetry  of  any  jealous  or  sentimental  emo 
tion,  to  Scanlan  Higgins.  The  wound  caused  by 
the  noxious  problem  rankled  in  her  breast.  She 
was  full  of  sympathy  for  Cadmus.  "  It  don't  make 
any  difference  what  your  acquirements  are  if  you 
only  have  a  manly  soul,  Caddie,"  she  said. 

Cadmus  Junior  who,  had  not  dabbled  in  phi 
losophy,  could  not  appreciate  the  artistic  beauty  of 
this  remark,  but  he  felt  that  the  sentiment  was 
republican,  and  he  warmed  at  it.  Cadmus  had 
never  thought  of  being  spoony  on  Dick.  He  was 
frequently  puzzled  at  her,  and  he  found  her 
"  queer,"  a  characteristic  which  he  regarded  on 
the  whole  as  exceedingly  unfortunate.  "  I  want  a 
girl  to  be  a  girl,"  he  confided  once  to  a  boy  com 
panion  ;  "  and  wear  white  aperns,  and  squeal  at 
toads  and  things,  and  not  be  too  smarty.  But 
then,"  he  admitted ;  "  if  you're  in  for  a  real  good 
time,  there  ain't  a  boy  in  Dymsbury  that's  got  so 


IT  HAS  COME.  113 

much  gumption  as  Towhead."  Now,  as  he  sat 
contemplating  her  for  a  moment  quite  indiffer 
ently  beneath  the  stars,  it  occurred  to  him 
that  her  hair  had  a  wonderful  gleam  in  it, —  and  her 
eyes,  submitted  to  this  close  and  unusual  scrutiny, 
he  found  rather  bewildering,  but  a  glance  at  the 
heavens  over  the  disc  of  his  watermelon  enlighted 
and  reassured  him. 

"  Say,  Towhead,"  said  he,  in  a  profoundly  prosaic 
tone,  touched  with  a  slight  accent  of  surprise ; 
"your  eyes  have  got  something  just  like  stars  in 
'em,  they  have,  honest  !  " 

Dick  smiled.  "  I  shall  always  remember  you, 
Caddie,"  said  she ;  "  and  the  pleasant  times  we  have 
had  together." 

"  And  me  you,"  said  Cadmus,  definitively,  as  not 
wishing  to  approach  any  nearer  the  verge  of  con 
ventional  sentiment. 

The  next  day,  and  for  several  days,  Dick,  with 
sincere  tenderness  at  the  thought  of  parting, 
courted  the  society  of  Cadmus  Junior  and  the 
little  Pinchons. 

"  I  should  infer  that  my  niece  and  her  felici 
tously  chosen  tutor  are  what  is  termed  in  childish 
parlance  'mad,'"  Mrs.  Bodurtha  reflected;  "and  it 


114  TOVVHEAD. 

is  an  intense  relief  to  me.  I  only  hope  they  may 
remain  so  until  I  get  the  girl  safely  off  to  school." 

But  on  the  morning  of  the  last  whole  day  at 
Dymsbury  Park,  Dick  and  Scanlan  made  up  ;  and 
Dick's  relentings  were  always  of  a  dangerous  and 
irresistible  nature  to  the  party  received  back  again 
into  favor.  After  that  it  came  about  quite  natu 
rally,  as  they  rocked  idly  in  the  boat  together, 
that  the  gentle  boy  expressed  a  hope  that  Dick 
at  some  future  day  might  be  the  guiding  star 
and  companion  of  his  life.  The  untamed  lass  re 
plied,  with  a  majestic  seriousness  and  composure 
of  manner  \vhich  would  still  more  have  surprised 
the  distracted  Mrs.  Bodurtha,  that  she  had  formed 
plans  for  the  future  amelioration  of  the  race  which 
must  forever  debar  her  from  participating  in 
domestic  joys.  At  the  same  time,  Dick,  having 
admitted  to  the  eccentric  range  of  her  acquire 
ments  a  flavor  of  very  ancient,  very  daring  and 
inconsequent  romance,  suggested  that  they  should 
"  elope"  together  that  night,  just  for  the  rare  fun 
of  the  thing  ;  to  return,  of  course,  in  a  day  or  two, 
but  it  would  be  very  delightful  and  exciting. 

Scanlan  was  grieved  and  disheartened  at  Dick's 
childishness,  but  he  dreamed  too  long  in  her  un- 


IT  HAS  COME.  11$ 

fathomable  eyes,  and  he  did  not  refuse  to  elope 
with  her.  Dick  arranged  all  the  preliminaries  of 
the  escapade  by  the  light  of  a  true  poetic  imagina 
tion. 

At  the  hour  before  midnight  the  stamping  of 
horses'  hoofs  was  heard  underneath  her  window, 
and  Scanlan  gave  a  low  whistle.  Dick,  already 
arrayed,  hastened  to  the  window. 

"  Art  ready,  beloved  lady?"  Scanlan  repeated,  in 
a  tone  of  much  seriousness  and  sweetness. 

"Ready,  dear  knight,"  Dick  answered,  with  a 
smothered  giggle  ;  for  the  horses  under  the  win 
dow,  though  well  adapted  to  purposes  of  elope 
ment,  or  to  any  other  requiring  speed  and 
endurance,  did  have  a  comical  and  unromantic 
look. 

Dick  descended  on  the  rope-ladder  previously 
prepared,  and  the  two  mounted  and  were  off. 
After  a  hard  gallop  of  some  miles,  even  Dick's 
imagination  could  find  no  stimulus  in  listening  for 
the  swift  rush  of  pursuing  feet.  The  mist  came  up 
chill  from  the  river ;  and  it  was  not  one  o'clock 
when  the  wanderers  returned.  But  the  Deacon 
Cadmus  Pinchon  family  had  been  aroused,  and 
Mrs.  Bodurtha's  handsome  face  was  pale  and  her 


Il6  TOWHEAD. 

lips  compressed.  Yet  so  relieved  was  she  at  the 
unexpected  return  of  the  miscreants,  which  she 
considered  as  an  act  of  repentance  on  their  part, 
that  she  merely  sent  them,  with  severe  dignity,  to 
their  beds.  "  I  shall  sleep  no  more  to-night,"  said 
she  ;  "  and,  thank  Heaven  !  to-morrow  this  will  be 
ended." 

Dick  lay  in  the  dark,  with  her  lips  curled  and  a 
wide,  defiant  smile  in  her  eyes,  when  she  was 
aware  that  a  gentle  presence  had  come  in  and 
seated  itself  at  the  foot  of  her  bed  :  — 

"  Ever  and  a  darlin',"  said  the  voice  —  and  it 
was  the  voice  of  one  who  had  struggled  and  who 
stood  solemnly  on  a  clear  height  — "  I've  been 
a  thinkin'  and  a  thinkin'.  Weary  has  been  my 
thoughts  and  sorrerful  my  heart,  but  now  there's 
a  more  of  a  stillness  —  there's  a  more  of  a  still 
ness,  ever  darlin',  along  the  sorrerful  road.  I've 
been  a  thinkin'  as  maybe  it's  best  for  you,  fur,  fur 
best  for  you,  for  to  go  and  be  toned  down.  Not 
but  what  I  know  as  it's  a  breakin'  up  a  good  many 
of  your  plans,  and  how  you  was  a  study  in'  natur', 
and,  when  you  get  through  a  havin'  fun,  you  was 
goin'  to  be  a  great  preacher  for  to  draw  'em  all ; 
and,  ever  darlin',  there  was  no  plan  as  ever  you 


IT  HAS  COME.  117 

formed  but  poor  old  Luny's  heart  was  with  you,  a 
waitin'  for  to  see  that  day. 

"  But,  ever  darlin',"  continued  the  old  serving- 
woman,  with  sad  and  grand  simplicity ;  "  in  this 
'ere  world  of  ourn,  so  weary  and  so  pitiful,  and  all 
a  strugglin'  for  to  know  their  own  and  hold  it  fast, 
and  oft  beat  out  and  disapp'inted,  there  ain't  but 
one  plan  a  runnin'  through  it  all,  not  but  jest  one 
plan  — 

"  And  so  I've  been  a  thinkin',  and  I've  thunk  it 
all  out  ;  it's  like  as  ef  you  should  feel  somebody 
drawin'  of  you  along  a  dark,  onsarting  road,  and  you 
a  thinkin'  as  there  might  be  easier  roads,  and  heart- 
broke,  fearin'  as  you've  lost  the  way ;  but  fear  not, 
ever  darlin',  for  in  a  revelation  have  I  seen  as  that 
'ar  road  that  looked  so  dark  and  wanderin',  that  'ar 
only  sorrerful  road,  is  a  plain  road  and  a  straight, 
and  is  a  leadin'  of  us  home. 

"  And,  ever  darlin,  there's  an  angeling  mother's 
hand  a  leadin'  you  along  that  road " 

"  Don't ! "  cried  Dick,  with  a  little  restless 
scream  of  pain. 

"There's  an  angeling  mother's  hand,  and  she 
whispers  to  you  to  be  gentle  and  obejent  and  to  put 
off  wildness  : " — and  the  old  serving-woman  con- 


Il8  TOW  HE  AD. 

tinued  talking  with  supreme  fervor,  sitting  meekly 
at  the  foot  of  the  bed.  But  when  she  rose  to  go, 
she  touched  the  cheek  of  the  girl,  who  had  fallen 
asleep  then,  and  found  that  it  was  cold  and  wet 
with  tears. 

"  Poor  beautiful  lamb ! "  Excelluna  sobbed. 
"  She's  nothin'  but  a  child,  and  she  only  loves  a 
little.  But  she  was  the  light  of  poor  old  Luny's 
eyes,  she  was  the  light  as  her  heart  lived  on.  It 
has  come  !  It  has  come  !  "  —  Excelluna  ceased 
suddenly  to  weep,  lifting  an  awestruck  face  — 
"  There's  a  more  of  a  stillness,"  she  said  ;  "along 
the  sorrerful  road." 


A   SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

A   SUBJECT   FOR    MOUNT   GRIMROOD   FEMALE 
SEMINARY. 

'THHE  elder  Mr.  Higgins  came  to  escort  my 
young  lady  to  Mount  Grimrood,  and  .Mrs. 
Bodurtha  went  back  in  cold  triumph  with  Scanlan 
to  New  York. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  Dick  should  have  had  a 
natural  antipathy  for  both  her  aunt  and  her 
guardian.  She  did  not  like  the  tone  in  which  Mr. 
Higgins  now  occasionally  addressed  her  as  "Miss 
Bodurtha,"  any  better  than  that  in  which  he  had 
formerly  been  wont  to  call  her  "  my  cha-ah-ming 
child."  But  he  took  her  purse  —  Dick  affected  in 
thos-e  days  a  very  manly  and  capacious  pocket- 
book,  it  had  ten  alcoves,  she  tells  me,  and  a 
leathern  strap  —  and  filled  it  with  crisp  new  bank 
notes. 

"  You  must  never  allow  yourself  to  get  out  of 
money,  my  dear,"  he  said.  "  Write  directly  to  me. 
And,  by  the  way,  you  musn't  let  them  make  you 


120  TOW  HE  AD. 

too  meek  at  this  place  you  are  going  to.  We  can't 
have  the  spirits  crushed  out  of  our  cha-ha-ming 
little  girl.  To  tell  you  the  truth,"  continued 
this  wise  guardian  to  his  ward ;  "  I  didn't  exactly 
like  the  idea  of  sending  you  to  Mount  Grimrood. 
But  your  aunt  seemed  to  think  it  was  a  desperate 
case  and  called  for  desperate  expedients.  And 
I  dare  say  you'll  be  vastly  edified  ;  but  you  must 
hold  your  own,  you  musn't  let  them  run  over  you, 
you  know." 

Gratified  at  the  plethoric  state  of  her  pocket- 
book,  Dick  nodded  graciously  at  the  words  her 
guardian  whispered  in  her  ear ;  but  after  all  there 
was  little  danger  that  Dick's  conduct  would  be 
guided  by  any  extraneous  advice. 

At  Cramingham,  where  they  waited  for  the 
train  to  Johnston's  Ferry,  Mr.  Higgins  received  a 
telegram  of  great  business  importance,  recalling 
him  immediately  to  New  York  ;  and  Dick,  with 
infinite  satisfaction,  contemplated  pursuing  the 
brief  remainder  of  her  journey  alone. 

Dick,  introduced  to  the  travelling  community, 
observed  a  general  tendency  on  the  part  of  people 
to  stare.  This  struck  her  as  perfectly  natural. 
She  did  not  know  that  she  made  a  quaint,  attract- 


A   SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD.      12 1 

ive  picture  in  the  workaday  world,  but  she 
thought  people  very  interesting  and  frequently 
comical,  and  returned  the  glances  cast  in  her 
direction  with  a  frank  and  cordial  scrutiny  which 
concealed  neither  its  own  delectation  nor  oc 
casional  surprise.  That  gaze,  too  childlike  and 
sincere  to  be  insolent,  yet  had  a  cool,  bright 
courage  in  it  which  defied  criticism,  and  threw 
off  lightly  any  insinuating  glances  of  evil. 

Arrived  at  Johnston's  Ferry,  Dick  found  her 
way  to  the  big  boat  and  the  river;  the  river — it 
was  wider,  deeper  than  the  stream  at  Dymsbury, 
and  it  was  sullen  gray  with  the  approach  of  even 
ing.  It  seemed  as  though  Dick  must  feel  every 
thing  through  external  nature.  It  was  the  river 
that  brought  that  aching  sense  to  her  heart ;  the 
river,  reminding  her  of  that  brighter  stream  far 
away,  winding,  willow-fringed  ;  that  desolate  stream, 
now,  with  its  empty  boat,  rocking,  waiting  forever- 
more,  idle  under  the  willows. 

The  ferry-boat  was  full  of  passengers.  Dick  had 
not  noticed.  She  stood  looking  out  on  the  water 
with  one  hand  thrust  lightly  in  the  breast  of  her 
jacket.  She  wore  a  velvet  jacket  of  hunter's- 
green  and  a  short  skirt,  with  wide  collar  and  cuffs, 


122  TOIVHEAD. 

already  considerably  soiled  from  her  journey,  and  a 
plumed  hat  set  jauntily  on  her  head.  Her  eyes 
looked  dreamy  and  sad ;  her  lips  were  parted 
slightly,  in  this  abstracted  mood ;  and  the  wind 
blew  her  light  hair  about  her  face. 

In  spite  of  its  careless,  unworn  beauty,  there 
was  a  look  on  the  young  face  that  haunted  one.  It 
was  sadder  than  home-sickness,  for  it  had  not  that 
tenderness.  It  seemed  vainly  trying  to  compre 
hend  its  own  want  ;  it  was  such  a  vague,  tearless 
wonder  and  yearning. 

Turning  at  last  to  contemplate  her  fellow-pas 
sengers,  Dick  was  astonished  to  find  that  the  boat 
was  filled,  save  for  the  old  ferryman,  with  females 
exclusively.  Some  of  them  were  young  and  pretty, 
but  they  were  all  primly  dressed,  and  most  of 
them  struck  Dick,  at  that  gloomy  hour,  as  being 
of  an  uncommonly  severe  type.  There  was  one 
woman  especially,  with  a  marble  face  and  great 
relentless  black  eyes,  who  looked  at  Dick.  Dick 
shivered.  For  the  first  time  in  her  life  an  ex 
pression  almost  of  fear  crossed  her  face.  If  she 
had  been  in  the  least  of  a  practical  turn  of  mind, 
she  would  have  divined  that  these  were  the  pupils 
and  teachers  of  Mount  Grimrood  Seminary  on  their 


A    SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD.        123 

way  thither  —  but,  poor  Dick,  she  had  never  been 
put  to  the  trouble  of  connecting  causes  and  effects 
in  her  mind.  She  took  in  the  scene  solely  in  its 
immediately  apparent  and  poetic  sense ;  and,  to 
her,  this  galaxy  of  black-stoled  and  unmated 
women,  crossing  a  shadowy  stream  at  the  twilight 
hour,  appeared  incomprehensible  and  terribly 
picturesque. 

She  crossed  over  to  where  the  old  ferryman, 
silently,  but  with  a  red  and  jovial  face,  was  tugging 
the  boat  along  by  the  wire  cables  stretched  across 
the  river.  There  was  something  pathetic  in  the 
manner  in  which  Dick  drew  this  man  into  a  con 
versation  on  the  technology  of  boats,  and  he 
appreciated  it. 

"Here's  a  mighty  han'som  and  a  wild  one," 
he  said  to  himself ;  "  sent  to  be  tamed  down  a 
bit,  I  bet  ye  !  wall,  they  get  a  hold  of  'em  once  in 
a  while.  But  she  don't  know  how  she's  a  makin' 
their  eyes  stick  out  o'  their  heads  by  comin'  over 
here  and  'sociatin'  with  me  so  nateral,  now  does 
she?"  So  he  chuckled,  and  entertained  Dick  with 
stories,  and  Dick  recounted  some  thrilling  adven 
tures  of  her  own.  She  was  rapidly  recovering  her 
spirits.  She  sat,  in  a  precarious  position,  on  the 


124  TOWHEAD. 

edge  of  the  boat,  and  traced  invisible  hieroglyphics 
with  a  lead-pencil  on  the  toe  of  her  slightly  eleva 
ted  boot.  She  spoke  in  a  tone  that,  without  con 
taining  any  loudly  aggressive  quality,  was  yet 
distinctly  audible  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  boat :  — 

"  Why  don't  there  any  men  or  boys  go  over  on 
this  boat  ?  "  she  said. 

Poor  Dick !  she  little  knew  what  she  had  done. 
And  even  if  she  had  been  informed  that  the  person 
who  stood  at  her  very  elbow,  the  woman  with  the 
marble  face  and  relentless  eyes,  was  Miss  Calvin, 
the  assistant  principal  of  Mount  Grimrood  Sem 
inary,  how  could  she  have  calculated  the  appalling 
effect  of  her  words  upon  the  virgin  souls  of  the 
teachers  and  pupils  of  that  august  institution  ? 
Even  the  old  ferryman  stood  for  a  moment 
aghast :  — 

"  Here  is  a  fresh  one  and  a  gay  one,"  he  re 
flected,  and  he  kindly  tried  to  catch  Dick's  eye, 
in  intimation  of  danger,  and  coughed  suggest 
ively.  But  Dick  did  not  notice. 

"  Why  don't  there  any  men  or  boys  go  over  in 
this  boat  ?  "  she  repeated,  in  the  same  clear  tone. 

"Why,    miss,"    stammered    the    old   ferryman; 


A    SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIMROOD.        125 

"  what  would  the  men  and  boys  be  going  to  Mount 
Grimrood  for,  miss  ?  " 

"Why,"  said  Dick,  her  eyes  wandering  dreamily 
towards  the  mountains  on  the  opposite  shore  ;  "  it 
isn't  the  end  of  the  world  over  there,  is  it  ? " 

"No,"  responded  the  old  ferryman,  desperately ; 
"  it  ain't,  but  it's  the  end  of  the  men-folks." 

Dick  sighed,  and  her  sigh  was  distinctly  regret 
ful  and  as  unembarrassed  as  her  speech. 

Presently,  "It's  a  pretty  prim  place  over  there,  I 
expect,"  she  remarked,  with  singular  fatuity.  Her 
eyes,  fixed  full  on  the  ferryman's  face,  had  a  cheer 
ful  smile  of  inquiry  in  them,  which,  under  more 
favorable  circumstances,  would  doubtless  have 
elicited  from  him  a  thoroughly  facetious  and  ex 
haustive  response.  As  it  was,  he  could  only  mut 
ter  to  himself,  as  he  bent  to  his  work  :  — 

"  She's  in  for  it  now.  She  may  as  well  die  for  a 
a  whole  sheep  as  a  lamb." 

Dick  thought  her  humble  companion  was  grow 
ing  inattentive.  She  proceeded  to  crush  him  with 
a  few  well-chosen  words  from  her  vocabulary : 
"  I  hope  there  won't  be  too  much  stiffness  in 
the  atmosphere,  over  there,"  she  said,  giving 
her  undivided  attention  to  the  scenery ;  "  I'm 


126  TOWHEAD. 

very  susceptible  to  any  stiffness  in  the  atmo 
sphere." 

At  that  moment,  on  Dick's  little,  warm,  brown 
hand,  there  fell  an  icy  touch  :  "  Young  woman," 
said  the  voice  of  Miss  Calvin,  in  her  ear;  "your 
position  is  most  indecorous,  and  you  are  in  immi 
nent  danger  of  falling  into  the  water." 

"  Oh,"  said  Dick,  pleasantly  enough,  but  with  a 
startled,  curious  look  in  her  eyes  as  she  lifted  them 
to  that  impassive  face;  "I  can  swim — like  any 
thing  !  Can  you  swim  ?  " 

Slowly  and  unsmilingly  Miss  Calvin  shook  her 
awful  head. 

"  Everybody  ought  to  know  how,"  said  Dick. 
She  had  a  little  struggle  with  herself,  for  the 
woman  who  stood  over  her  was  very  rcpellant  to 
her,  and  then  continued  magnanimously ;  "  I'm 
going  to  be  at  Mount  Grimrood,  and  if  you  live 
anywhere  about  here,  I'll  show  you,  if  you  like." 

"Child,"  responded  Miss  Calvin,  "/am  going 
to  be  at  Mount  Grimrood.  The  persons  stand 
ing  about  us  in  the  boat,  who  have  witnessed 
your  singular  and  unseemly  conduct,  are  going  to 
be  at  Mount  Grimrood.  Lest  your  thoughtless 
ness  should  lead  you  into  further  indiscretions,  it  is 


A    SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD.      I2/ 

well  that  I  should  inform  you  that  we  are  all 
teachers  and  pupils  of  Mount  Grimrood  Sem 
inary." 

Dick  grew  more  and  more  puzzled :  "  Now 
she's  mad,"  she  mused  sagely ;  "  because  I  said 
I  thought  they  might  be  a  prim  set  over  there." 
But  Dick  attempted  no  apology.  She  armed  her 
self  straightway  for  a  conflict,  after  the  artless 
fashion  peculiar  to  Dymsbury  Park.  With  a  sweet 
flame  in  her  cheeks,  she  set  her  white  teeth  in 
Miss  Calvin's  very  face,  and  her  brown  eyes 
flashed  a  cheerful  defiance. 

"  Child,"  said  Miss  Calvin ;  "  I  shall  not  reason 
with  you  further  here:"  and  she  withdrew  her  icy 
hand. 

The  old  ferryman  looked  as  though  he  would 
have  jumped  into  the  river.  His  cheeks  had 
a  dangerously  red  and  explosive  aspect.  "  Sure 
enough,"  he  muttered  under  his  breath ;  "here 
is  a  high  one  and  a  mad  lark,  and  when  the 
old  She  fretted  her,  gad,  if  she  didn't  turn  and 
show  fight  !  But  she  dies  for  a  whole  sheep,  mind 
ye.  She  don't  die  for  no  lambs  !  "  And  it  was 
almost  with  awe  and  admiration  that  he  watched 
Dick,  when,  the  boat  being  landed,  she  smiled 


128  TOWHEAD. 

condescendingly  down  on  him  from  her  perch  by 
the  side  of  the  stage-driver.  "  She  dies  for  a 
whole  sheep,  mind  ye,"  he  repeated;  "she  don't 
die  for  no  lambs." 

The  stage  stopped  at  the  side  entrance  of  a  large 
brick  pile,  and  Dick  passed  into  Mount  Grimrood 
Seminary.  The  inexorable  Miss  Calvin  was  at  her 
elbow.  She  guided  my  lass  by  her  chill  touch 
into  a  room  styled  the  "  South  Wing  Receptory," 
where  there  sat  a  dignified  conclave  of  teachers, 
and,  in  their  midst,  Miss  Milton,  the  principal  of 
Mount  Grimrood.  Miss  Milton  was  tall,  of  a  gaunt, 
loose  frame ;  but  Dick  thought  her  face  was  very 
strong  and  fine.  Her  spare  cheeks  were  flushed 
as  if  with  weariness  or  excitement.  Her  throat 
filled  often,  so  that  her  speech,  though  of  a  tender 
and  impressive  tone,  was  painfully  labored.  Still 
guided  by  Miss  Calvin's  hand,  Dick  felt  herself 
impelled  into  the  immediate  presence  of  this 
august  individual.  Miss  Calvin  then  stooped  down 
and  whispered  in  Miss  Milton's  ear.  Miss  Milton 
looked  at  Dick  and  smiled  kindly,  and,  taking  the 
girl's  hand,  drew  her  gently  to  one  side,  retaining 
her  while  the  ordinary  business  of  the  hour  went  on. 
One  by  one  those  who  had  crossed  the  ferry  with 


A   SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD.      129 

Dick  and  arrived  at  Mount  Grimrood  in  the  same 
line  of  stages,  were  welcomed  and  dismissed  by 
Miss  Milton,  who  never  let  go  her  firm  hold  of  the 
girl's  hand.  Dick  began  to  feel  the  position  as 
a  tiresome  and  disagreeably  conspicuous  one.  The 
touch  that  had  at  first  seemed  to  her  so  kind,  she 
now  began  to  resent  as  hateful  and  cruel.  In 
clined  by  nature  to  stand  up  valiantly  for  her  own 
rights,  her  acquaintance  with  the  young  Pinchons 
and  the  lads  at  Dymsbury  had  not  fostered  in  her 
any  shrinking  timidity  of  disposition.  Careless 
dreamer  as  she  was,  she  had  entertained  no  hostile 
emotions  on  entering  Mount  Grimrood.  She  chose 
to  be  conciliatory,  but,  if  they  put  her  to  it,  she 
would  not  hesitate  to  bay  them  all.  "  I'll  be  even 
with  you  some  time,"  she  whispered  through  her 
gleaming  teeth  to  a  shrinking  junior,  who,  in  pass 
ing,  had  stared  at  her  too  inquisitively.  "  Hallo, 
old  Flyaway ! "  she  murmured  to  a  female  in  an 
escalloped  white  basque  and  with  floating  ringlets, 
who  had  not  concealed  a  shade  of  disapproval  on 
her  face  as  she  looked  at  Dick.  Dick  supposed 
that  this  was  a  senior  pupil,  but  it  was,  in  fact,  one 
of  the  younger  teachers  at  Mount  Grimrood,  and 
her  name  was  Miss  Bean. 


130  TOWHEAD. 

The  last  pupil  had  been  dismissed.  The  teach 
ers  also  rose  and  left  the  room,  and  then  Miss 
Milton  drew  Dick  to  a  large  ottoman  at  her  feet, 
and  gently  released  her  hand. 

"  I  kept  you  waiting  —  my  child  "  —  she  said,  in 
her  kind,  labored  speech  ;  "  because  —  as  we  have 
received  you  to  the  Seminary — under  rather  pe 
culiar  circumstances  —  having  in  fact  been  defi 
nitely  informed  —  by  your  aunt  —  as  to  your 
requirements  and  past  life —  I  thought  it  better  — 
that  I  should  see  you  alone.  Will  you  tell  me  — 
your  name  ? " 

"  Dick,"  replied  my  lass,  in  a  tone  which  it  was 
possible  to  deplore  as  marked  by  too  clear  an 
emphasis. 

"  Your  name,"  said  the  principal  of  Mount 
Grimrood ;  "I  have  been  informed — on  no  less 
authority  —  than  your  own  aunt  —  is  Lucy  — 
Lucy  Bodurtha  —  and  thus  you  will  be  known  — 
during  your  stay  —  at  this  institution." 

Dick,  at  white  heat,  smiled  hopefully  to  herself, 
and  said  nothing. 

"And  how  old  are  you,  my  child  ?  "  Miss  Milton 
continued. 

"Sixteen,"  Dick  replied. 


A    SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD.      131 

"  Sixteen  ! "  exclaimed  Miss  Milton,  with  pru 
dently  affected  surprise.  "  Sixteen  !  and  so  tall ! — 
and  still  with  a  childish  nickname  !  and  all  this 
beautiful  hair  hanging  unconfmed  down  your  back  ! 
and  your  dress  scarcely  reaching  to  the  tops  of 
your  boots  !  " 

Still  Dick  smiled  hopefully  to  herself  and  said 
nothing.  Miss  Milton  allowed  her  hand  to  wander 
caressingly  through  the  light  tresses  of  Dick's 
unconfmed  hair ;  and,  as  she  did  so,  the  dignity 
of  her  office  and  the  cares  of  her  devoted  life 
slipped  for  a  moment  from  her  mind,  and  her 
flushed  face  grew  restful  and  dreamy. 

"  And  do  you  know  "  — she  continued,  recover 
ing  herself  —  "what  was  your  object  in  coming  — 
or  your  friend's  object  —  in  sending  you — to 
Mount  Grimrood  ? " 

Dick  felt  that  it  was  too  bad,  her  aunt  having 
evidently  disclosed  all,  and  more  than  the  truth, 
that  she  should  be  compelled  to  repeat  the  obnox 
ious  phrase.  However 

"  I  came,"  she  answered,  resolutely;  "to  be  toned 
down!' 

An  incredulous,  almost  an  appreciative  smile 
passed  over  Miss  Milton's  face,  Dick's  manner  was 


132  TOW  HE  AD. 

calculated  to  awaken  such  lively  hopes  in  the 
breast  of  those  who  should  be  called  to  perform 
that  office  for  her,  and  there  was  only  such  a  mad 
seriousness  in  the  girl's  face. 

"  You  came,"  Miss  Milton  answered,  gently ; 
"to  perform  —  a  faithful  course  of  study  —  and  to 
find  your  highest  pleasure  —  in  conforming  to 
those  regulations  —  which  it  is  necessary  for  us  to 
make  —  and  to  enforce.  The  examinations  for 
admission  begin  to-morrow.  You  have  yet  some 
time  —  before  the  retiring  bell  —  to  spend  in 
study.  I  have  considered  it  best  —  that  you  should 
room  for  the  present  with  two  seniors  —  they  are 
estimable  young  ladies  —  and  I  hope  —  you  will 
grow  warmly  —  attached  to  them.  Their  names  — 
are  Miss  F.  Armenia  Stetson  —  and  Miss  B.  Ara 
bella  Bell." 

"  I  don't  think  I  should  like  rooming  with  two 
of  those  seniors,"  said  Dick,  firmly,  though  with 
great  simplicity  of  manner.  "  I  don't  think  it 
would  be  very  comfortable.  Somehow,  I  don't 
believe  I  should  sleep  well." 

Miss  Milton  could  only  look  her  questioning 
surprise. 

"  Because,"  continued  Dick  ;  "  they're  too  bony 
and  studious." 


A    SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIMROOD.      133 

"  My  child,"  Miss  Milton  interrupted  quickly, 
"let  us  pray." 

As  Miss  Milton  knelt  on  the  floor  at  Dick's  side 
the  passion  in  the  girl's  heart  changed  slowly  to 
wonder,  but  at  the  sound  of  that  tired,  earnest 
voice  in  supplication  she  was  touched. 

"I  enjoyed  your  prayer  very  much,"  she  said, 
as  they  passed  out  of  the  room  together  —  for 
Miss  Milton  herself  had  undertaken  to  show  Dick 
to  her  room.  Miss  Milton  turned  and  looked 
sharply  at  Dick,  but  found  no  cause  for  suspicion  in 
that  lovely,  ingenuous  face.  Miss  Calvin  had  been 
wiser.  She  had  taken  firm  ground  at  the  begin 
ning  that  Dick's  nature  was  hopelessly  depraved, 
and  had  arranged  her  forces  for  a  distinct  conflict. 
But  Miss  Milton,  unconsciously  to  herself,  had 
already  begun  to  make  a  study  of  the  lass  ;  and 
when  one  would  make  a  study  of  my  Dick  — 
well,  I  know  that  that  proved  sometimes  dan 
gerous. 

Miss  Milton  introduced  Dick  to  her  room-mates, 
Miss  F.  Armenia  Stetson  and  Miss  B.  Arabella 
Bell,  and  withdrew.  Those  young  ladies  were 
studying  when  Dick  entered  the  room.  They  rose 
gravely  and  saluted  her,  and  then  seated  them- 


134  TOIVHEAD. 

selves  immediately  at  their  books  again.  Dick 
contemplated  them  for  some  moments  in  silence  ; 
they  had  dark  ringlets,  a  freak  of  nature  with 
which  she  had  already  become  familiar  at  Mount 
Grimrood,  and  pale  and  composed  faces.  Besides 
the  shade  on  the  lamp,  they  wore  shades  that  cov 
ered  the  lower  part  of  their  foreheads  and  jutted 
out  over  their  eyes  and  were  tied  behind  their 
ears.  Dick  had  seen  the  same  sort  of  arrange 
ment  in  connection  with  unruly  animals,  and  she 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  use  of  the  "blinders" 
for  horses ;  but  of  overtaxed  nerves  and  the 
habits  of  those  who  study  by  lamplight  she  knew 
nothing. 

"  I  wonder,"  she  meditated,  "  whether  those  two 
jump  fences  or  shy." 

The  silence  grew  very  tedious.  Dick  finally 
concluded  to  address  one  of  them,  but  she  was  a 
little  perplexed  how  she  should  call  her  name. 

"  B.  ? "  said  she,  good-naturedly,  and  received  no 
answer.  "  B.  Arabella  ?  "  said  Dick. 

B.  Arabella  looked  up  and  placed  a  finger  ad- 
monishingly  on  her  lips.  A  moment  afterwards 
the  sound  of  a  bell  was  heard  in  the  hall.  "  I  did 
not  speak  to  you  before,"  she  then  said,  "  because 


A   SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD.     135 

we  are  not  permitted  to  speak  in  study  hours.  We 
have  now  a  recess  of  a  few  moments."  She  smiled 
at  Dick  feebly  and  inquiringly. 

Dick  returned  the  smile.  "  I've  just  come," 
she  said  ;  "  and  it  doesn't  seem  to  be  a  very  lively 
place,  and  I  thought  you  might  entertain  me  a 
little." 

Miss  F.  Armenia  Stetson  and  Miss  B.  Arabella 
Bell  looked  at  each  other.  They  were  not  likely 
to  be  deluded  into  making  a  study  of  Dick  ;  and,  as 
they  still  sat  looking  at  each  other,  the  bell  rang 
again. 

Dick  wandered  out  into  the  halls.  Occasionally 
some  one  passed  through,  and  that  afforded  a  little 
diversion.  But  a  teacher  found  her  thus  employed 
and,  "Do  you  not  know,"  she  said;  "that  it  is 
against  our  rules  to  delay  unnecessarily  in  the 
halls?" 

So  Dick  found  some  stairs  and  sat  disconsolately 
down  on  them.  She  had  not  been  there  long,  when 
she  heard  a  cheerful  rushing  sound  over  her  head  ; 
and,  ere  she  had  time  to  turn,  a  girl  of  about  her 
own  age,  with  brown  hair  cut  short  like  a  boy's, 
and  dancing  blue  eyes,  swept  by  her  at  a  wild  rate 
down  the  banisters.  An  angel  from  heaven 


136  TOW  HE  AD. 

could  not  have  brought  such  a  sudden  thrill  of  joy 
to  Dick's  heart.  As  the  blue-eyed  girl  dismounted 
and  turned  to  ascend  the  stairs  again,  it  was  tacitly 
understood  by  both  that  Dick  should  join  her,  and 
by  the  time  they  had  taken  several  bouts  on  the 
banisters  together  they  were  as  well  acquainted 
as  though  they  had  known  each  other  from  child 
hood. 

The  merry  blue-eyed  girl  confided  to  Dick  that 
her  father  and  mother  were  missionaries,  that  she 
had  been  born  on  a  heathen  island ;  and  that  her 
name  was  Hawaii ;  that  her  parents  had  given  her 
in  trust  to  Mount  Grimrood  Seminary,  and  that, 
when  she  got  old  enough,  she  was  "  dedicated 
to  go  and  be  a  missionary,  too."  This  last  she 
shouted  at  Dick  in  a  shrill  tone,  while  they  were 
going  so  rapidly  down  the  banisters  that  Hawaii's 
short  hair  stood  out  perpendicularly  from  her  head, 
and  Dick's  golden  mane  floated  behind  her  like  a 
cloud. 

Dick's  life  and  prospects  seemed  very  tame  to 
her  in  comparison  with  Hawaii's.  She  told  her 
friend  briefly  that  her  name  was  Dick  Bodurtha, 
that  she  was  an  orphan  and  "very  wicked," — a 
fact  which  she  had  discovered  since  coming:  to 


A   SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD.      137 

Mount  Grimrood  and  upon  which  she  now  dwelt 
with  peculiar  pride  —  and  had  been  sent  to  Mount 
Grimrood  to  be  toned  down. 

"  Have  they  put  you  in  with  two  seniors  ? "  asked 
Hawaii. 

"  Yes,"  said  Dick. 

"  They  have  me,  too,"  said  Hawaii,  with  cheer 
ful  pride ;  "  they  always  put  the  bad  ones  in  with 
two  seniors." 

They  were  making  a  particularly  illustrious 
descent  when  seized  upon  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs 
by  no  less  a  personage  than  Miss  Calvin  herself ; 
who  rebuked  them  icily  and  sent  them  to  their 
rooms.  But  Dick  had  not  been  confined  many 
moments  in  her  prison-house  with  F.  Armenia 
Stetson  and  B.  Arabella  Bell,  before  she  heard 
a  slight  enticing  cough  in  the  hall.  She  crept  out. 
Oh,  joy!  It  was  Hawaii.  "Get  your  night-gown, 
Dick,"  she  whispered ;  "  I've  found  a  nice  airy 
sleeping-room  that  we  can  have  all  to  ourselves." 

Dick  went  cautiously  back  for  her  night-gown, 
and  followed  Hawaii  through  the  halls  and  up  the 
stairs,  up,  up,  ever  higher  up ;  still  there  was 
another  flight,  winding  and  steep  and  dark ;  and 
then,  in  the  cupola  of  Mount  Grimrood  Seminary 


138  TOWHEAD. 

at  last,  the  air  blew  fresh  and  strong  on  their 
cheeks,  and  the  stars  shone  down  on  them.  There 
Hawaii  had  arranged  a  couch  with  blankets  and 
pillows  which  she  had  confiscated  from  the  regions 
below.  Hawaii  took  off  her  cotton-gown  and  Dick 
disrobed  herself  of  her  velvet,  and  the  two  friends 
lay  down  in  their  white  dresses.  And  Hawaii 
slept.  And  Dick  wandered  lightly  back  to 
Dymsbury  Park,  where  the  starlight  shone  on 
the  familiar  places,  and  the  great  elms  out 
side  sighed  and  waved,  and  Excelluna,  through 
her  fur-off s,  talked  with  God ;  and  then  Dick 
slept. 

Below  rang  the  hour-bell  before  retiring,  the 
half-hour  bell,  the  quarter-of-an-hour  bell,  the  five- 
minutes  bell,  the  solemn  retiring-bell —  and  still 
Dick  and  Hawaii  slept. 

Then  F.  Armenia  Stetson  and  B.  Arabella  Bell, 
with  Hawaii's  room-mates,  alarmed  the  teachers, 
and  Mount  Grimrood  Seminary  was  aroused,  and 
search  for  Dick  and  Hawaii  was  made  in  every 
quarter  of  that  great  building  and  throughout  the 
adjacent  grounds. 

It  was  Miss  Milton  herself  who  first  ascended 
the  steep  stairs  that  led  to  that  utmost  height ; 


A   SUBJECT  FOR  MOUNT  GRIM  ROOD.        139 

but  before  the  others  came  up,  and  before  she 
should  find  it  necessary  sternly  to  arouse  those 
piacid  sleepers,  she  stooped  down  with  an  al 
most  impulsive  gesture  and  stroked  Dick's  quiet 
face. 


140  TOW  HE  AD. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

"PUT  ME   IN  WITH   THE   GOATS." 

THICK'S  descent  from  the  cupola  had  been  a 
hazy  one,  and  she  was  considerably  surprised 
the  next  morning,  when  awakened  by  B.  Arabella 
Bell.  B.  Arabella  had  arisen  and  dressed  by  lamp 
light,  and  her  book  lay  open  on  the  table. 
"Would  you  not  like,"  she  said  to  Dick;  "to  get 
into  the  habit,  which  Miss  Stetson  and  I  have 
formed,  of  taking  our  devotional  half-hour  before 
breakfast  ? " 

"Taking  a  what?"  said  Dick,  only  half  awak 
ened,  her  eyes  opening  vague  with  wonder. 

"  It  is  one  of  the  excellent  rules  of  the  institu 
tion,"  said  B.  Arabella  ;  "  that  those  who  enjoy  its 
advantages  shall  take  a  devotional  half-hour  in 
perfect  solitude  twice  every  day.  If  you  make 
haste  to  dress,  you  will  have  just  time  to  complete 
your  morning  half-hour  ere  breakfast.  Miss  Stet 
son  has  gone  out  to  find  a  solitary  place  in  which 
to  take  hers;  I  will  take  mine  here,  and  the 


PUT  ME  IN  WITH  THE  GOATS.         141 

closet,"  said  B.  Arabella,  pointing  to  a  gloomy 
aperture  at  one  end  of  the  room ;  "  is  at  your 
disposal." 

The  prospect  of  fleeing  from  the  presence  of  B. 
Arabella  Bell,  even  into  the  darkness,  was  an 
agreeable  one.  Dick  hastily  dressed  herself  as 
well  as  she  might  without  Excelluna's  aid,  and 
repaired  to  the  closet.  A  chink  at  the  bottom  of 
the  door  let  in  a  faint  ray  of  light ;  Dick  discovered 
a  wooden  stool  and  sat  down  upon  it  —  sleepy, 
homeless,  motherless  girl,  her  head  drooped  on  her 
shoulder,  she  said  over  the  little  prayer  with  which 
Excelluna  had  taught  her  to  begin  the  day  at 
Dymsbury  Park,  and  tried  to  realize  the  general 
doleful  horrors  of  her  situation  at  Mount  Grimrood 
Seminary ;  but  sleep  soon  came  to  her  relief. 
Meantime,  rang  all  the  little  bells  again  ;  and  at 
the  sound  of  the  breakfast  bell,  B.  Arabella  rose 
from  her  devotions,  and  joined  F.  Armenia  Stetson 
and  the  throng  in  the  halls,  but  Dick  slept  on, 
in  glad  unconsciousness  of  closet  or  darkness, 
or  the  fact  that  to  be  tardy  at  breakfast  at  Mount 
Grimrood  Seminary  was  a  strange  and  well-nigh 
inexcusable  offence. 

It  was  Hawaii,  concealed  under  a  table  near  the 


142  TOW  HE  AD. 

wide  entrance  of  the  dining-hall  —  Hawaii,  peering 
out,  bright-eyed  and  alert  as  some  ground-burrow 
ing  animal,  her  short  hair  all  erect  with  a  morning 
crispness  —  who  noted  Dick's  absence  and  rushed 
forth  to  find  her.  But  when  Hawaii,  laughing, 
dragged  Dick  out  of  the  closet,  Dick  woke  to  the 
situation  with  solemn  wrath  and  defiance.  "  We 
lived  with  God  all  the  time  at  Dymsbury  Park," 
she  said,  as  they  walked  through  the  hall  together ; 
and  Hawaii  ceased  laughing,  and  wondered,  look 
ing  into  Dick's  eyes,  for  they  were  not  like  any 
ordinary  eyes  that  she  had  seen,  but  they  reminded 
her  directly  of  sun,  and  deep,  and  sudden  storm. 
"  We  lived  with  God  all  the  time  at  Dymsbury 
Park.  I  sha'n't  take  any  more  of  their  half-hours," 
said  Dick,  gravely  and  savagely. 

When  they  reached  the  dining-hall  their  spirits 
rose.  There  were  sixteen  tables  spread,  twenty 
girls  or  more  at  each  table,  with  teachers  presiding  ; 
in  their  midst,  Dick  discovered  Miss  Milton's  tall 
form.  It  was  just  at  the  solemn  moment,  when, 
standing  after  silent  grace,  the  company  waited  for 
Miss  Milton  to  take  the  initiative  by  drawing  forth 
her  chair  and  seating  herself,  that  my  Dick  and 
Hawaii  appeared,  smiling,  on  the  scene.  It  oc- 


PUT  ME  IN  WITH  THE  GOATS.          143 

curred  to  those  two  immortal  spirits  that,  at  so 
many  tables,  very  likely  there  might  be  a  choice  of 
viands ;  and  they  proceeded,  by  an  agreement 
affecting  their  mutual  advantage,  to  make  an  im 
partial  detour  of  the  dining-room  and  to  give 
immediate  oral  testimony  as  to  their  discoveries. 

"  Hash,  here ! "  cried  Hawaii,  beginning  her 
cheerful  tour  of  inspection. 

"  Hash,  here ! "  Dick  responded  clearly  from 
another  direction. 

"  Hash,  here  !  "  re-echoed  Hawaii,  proceeding 
still  farther  down  the  line,  but  with  an  undeniable 
shade  of  disappointment  growing  in  her  tone. 

"  Hash — ,"  Dick  began  again,  but  the  obnoxious 
phrase  died  incomplete  on  her  lips.  Miss  Calvin's 
icy  touch  chilled  and  drew  her  to  the  table  where 
she  herself  presided,  and  where  also  sat  Miss  Bean. 
Miss  Bean,  whom  Dick  had  casually  addressed  the 
night  before  as  "  Old  Fly-away,"  gravely  poised 
her  ringleted  head  and  gazed  at  my  lass  with  deep 
pity  and  distrust. 

Hawaii's  career  had  also  been  arrested  at  another 
point.  Dick's  heart  yearned  for  her  lively  com 
panion,  yet  she  allowed  neither  obloquy  nor  sen 
timent  to  interfere  with  the  dictates  of  her  fresh 


144  TOWHEAD. 

young  appetite.  She  ignored  the  hash  with  an 
expression  of  innocent  disfavor,  but  partook  plen 
tifully  of  bread  and  prunes,  and  passed  her  small 
tumbler  many  times  for  water.  That  she  was 
regarded,  in  some  sort,  as  a  criminal  waiting  for 
execution,  she  could  not  but  perceive ;  yet  were  her 
clear  and  challenging  eyes  strangely  devoid  of  fear. 
It  was  the  sublime  sentiment  imbibed  at  Dyms- 
bury  Park,  in  every  emergency  to  "die  game." 

After  breakfast,  Dick  was  led  away  by  Miss 
Bean  and  subjected  to  an  inquisition  of  half  an 
hour,  which  she  bore  coolly  and  with  an  aptness 
and  fortitude  of  rejoinder  already  augmented  by 
her  brief  sojourn  at  Mount  Grimrood.  Released 
by  Miss  Bean,  she  learned  that  Miss  Milton  wished 
to  see  her  immediately  in  her  private  apartment. 
But  Dick  had  discovered  the  human  chord  hidden 
away  in  Miss  Milton's  awful  bosom,  and  the  child 
struck  at  it  with  artless  confidence  and  abandon. 
Strangely  fascinating  grew  the  study  of  this 
neglected  nature  to  Miss  Milton,  but  she  conscien 
tiously  repressed  the  yearning  impulse  as  a  foe  to 
her  august  duty.  Long  and  severely  she  lectured 
Dick,  until  the  bell  rang  for  united  devotions  in 
the  seminary  hall. 


PUT  ME  IN  WITH   THE   GOATS.          145 

Then  was  it  indeed  a  solemn  sight,  when  the 
three  hundred  and  sixty  pupils  of  the  Mount 
Grimrood  female  seminary  were  seated  silently  in 
the  seminary  hall,  and  on  the  platform  above,  the 
forty  teachers  —  Miss  Milton  in  their  midst ;  at 
her  right,  Miss  Calvin ;  at  her  left,  another  senior 
potentate ;  and  so  on,  down  the  scale  of  impor 
tance,  to  Miss  Bean  at  one  extreme,  and  a  certain 
Miss  Ratting  at  the  other.  It  was  a  solemn  spec 
tacle. 

Then  rose  Miss  Milton,  and  slightly  bowed  her 
awe-inspiring  frame,  and  murmured,  with  a  ghastly 
attempt  at  cheer,  which  checked  for  an  instant  the 
free  blood  in  Dick's  veins;  "  Good  morning,  young 
ladies." 

And  all  the  young  ladies  rose  and  bowed  them 
selves  and  sat  down  again,  and  again  was  silence. 

Miss  Milton  then  read,  as  was  the  custom  at  the 
beginning  of  each  school  year,  the  peculiar  rules  to 
be  observed  at  Mount  Grimrood  Seminary. 

And  all  the  pupils  listened  and  wrote.  And 
having  covered  several  sheets  of  foolscap  with  her 
black  and  daring  chirography,  it  occurred  to  wicked 
Dick  that  matters  might  have  been  greatly  facil 
itated  by  mentioning  the  one  or  two  things  that  it 


146  TOWHEAD. 

was  proper  to  do  at  Mount  Grimrood,  such  as 
eating  principally  with  one's  fork,  and  drawing,  in  a 
repressed  and  decorous  fashion,  the  necessary 
breath  of  life. 

After  this  exercise,  came  the  ordinary  morning 
devotions,  touching  and  appropriate  ;  and  the  sing 
ing,  very  sweet,  except  for  a  certain  narrow-chested, 
high-pitched  quality  of  tone.  Then  it  was  evident 
that  something  of  unusual  importance  was  about  to 
occur.  Miss  Milton,  from  her  throne,  cleared  her 
throat  several  times,  ere  she  spoke  in  grave  and 
measured  accents  :  — 

"It  is  our  custom  —  young  ladies  —  for  many 
eminent  reasons  —  and  especially  —  that  we  may 
the  more  intelligently  exert  that  religious  influ 
ence —  which  it  is  the  peculiar  design  —  of  our 
beloved  institution  to  exert — it  is  our  custom  — 
to  ascertain  —  the  exact  religious  status — of  each 
of  our  pupils.  Will  those  —  who  are  members  — 
of  our  Christian  churches  —  now  rise?  " 

At  this  Dick  observed  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  assembly  rose.  Their  names  were  called  and 
duly  taken  down  by  a  scribe  upon  the  throne. 

Miss  Milton  again  cleared  her  throat,  and  again 
spoke,  now  with  a  singularly  affecting  earnestness  : 


PUT  ME  IN  WITH  THE   GOATS.         147 

"  Will  those  —  who  —  though  they  have  been  hin 
dered —  by  some  untoward  circumstance — from 
uniting  —  with  our  beloved  churches  —  who  yet  — 
mayhap  —  love  God  —  who—  "  Miss  Milton  paused 
a  moment  as  her  throat  filled,  and  then  added  — 
"  now  rise  ?  " 

Among  the  number  who  rose  at  this  summons, 
quite  happily  and  unconsciously  rose  my  Dick  — 
my  Dick,  for  whom  it  was  so  easy  to  fall  a  dream 
ing.  And  the  dream  was  in  her  eyes  —  God,  who 
filled  all  things  at  Dymsbury  Park,  from  mighty 
day-beam  to  plaintive  bird-note ;  ay,  and  with 
whom  dear  old  Excelluna  talked,  and  from  whom 
she  had  had  so  many,  many  revelations.  Dream 
ing,  it  escaped  Dick  that  she  was  now  so  wicked. 
Quite  happily  and  unconciously  she  rose,  for 
surely  she  loved  God  ! 

The  names  of  these  also  were  reported,  and  duly 
taken  down,  with  modified  approval  by  the  scribe 
upon  the  throne. 

Still  were  there  some  who  had  not  risen  at  all. 
And  as  the  names  of  those  were  written,  be  it 
said,  with  all  reverence  for  the  undoubted  sincerity 
of  the  act,  that  some  of  those  upon  the  throne 
wept. 


148  TOWHEAD. 

A  deeper  solemnity  settled  upon  the  scene.  The 
pupils  seated  themselves  once  more  ;  and  in  a  tone 
still  more  measured  and  portentous,  Miss  Milton 
read,  from  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew,  the 
awful  allegory  of  the  final  tragic  separation  of  the 
sheep  from  the  goats.  Slowly  and  impressively 
she  read ;  and  at  the  close,  "  This  hour  also,"  she 
said  ;  "is  typical  —  of  that  final  —  sad  event.  Even 
now  —  young  ladies,"  —  and  a  heavy  atmosphere 
as  of  death  settled  over  the  assembly  —  "  though 
—  in  this  world  —  there  is  hope  of  reclamation  — 
even  now  —  ycung  ladies  —  in  some  sense  —  as 
the  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats  — ' 
But  suddenly,  as  she  listened,  my  Dick  awoke 
from  her  dreaming.  This  was  not  the  God  of 
Dymsbury  Park,  whose  sun  shone  on  waste  and 
pool,  whose  free  wind  blew  over  all ;  the  vile  was 
ever  being  purified  ;  the  base  climbed  ever  towards 
the  light.  Excelluna  had  not  told  her  of  this  ;  of 
difference,  and  election,  and  separation  ;  of  endless 
pain  and  loss ;  it  was  not  in  all  her  simple  grand 
theology  —  but  ever  to  redeem  the  lost,  and  ever 
hotly  to  defend  the  weak.  It  was  the  black  lamb 
Dick  had  chosen.  And  now,  as  Miss  Milton 
paused,  suddenly  there  rose  up,  in  the  midst  of  the 


PUT  ME  IN  WITH   THE  GOATS.          149 

three  hundred  and  sixty  pupils,  and  before  the 
forty  teachers,  a  form  of  desperate  insulted  fire. 
Dick's  great  eyes  blazed ;  her  lips  half  curled  with 
contempt,  half  quivered  with  anger.  In  the  midst 
of  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  pupils,  and  before 
the  forty  teachers,  a  voice  rang  out,  terribly 
distinct  and  clear  in  its  young  indignation,  as  Dick 
beckoned  to  the  scribe  upon  the  throne.  "You 
may  take  my  name  off  of  that  other  sheet ! "  she 
said.  "  You  may  put  me  in  with  the  goats  !  " 

"You  may  put  me  in  with  the  goats!"  —  the 
words  resounded  through  the  seminary  hall,  and 
the  heavy  atmosphere  closed  in  upon  them,  heavier 
than  before.  There  followed  a  moment,  two 
moments,  of  perfect  silence.  Miss  Milton  then 
made  a  breathless  sign  of  dismissal,  and  the  assem 
bly  dispersed. 

As,  with  Miss  Bean  and  Miss  Calvin  following 
in  the  distance,  Dick  wended  her  way  with  the 
throng  out  of  the  seminary  hall,  still  upborne  on 
that  towering  wave  of  indignation,  she  met  every 
cold  or  inquisitive  or  highly  compassionate  glance 
with  equal  defiance  and  scorn.  Yet  was  the  girl's 
heart  breaking  within.  The  memory  of  that  dark 
scene,  of  that  new  and  horrible  revelation,  lay  like 


ISO  TOWHEAD. 

a  pall  upon  her,  blotting  out  for  the  instant  all  her 
fair  world,  changing  her  beautiful  God  to  a  gro 
tesque  designer  of  blind,  insatiable  wrath.  Ah, 
where  was  the  light  that  shone  at  Dymsbury  Park ; 
the  boundless  heaven  and  hope  !  Excelluna  !  Ex- 
celluna  !  Dick  could  have  thrown  herself  down 
and  wept  passionately.  But  these  who  stared  at 
her  so,  they  should  not  see  her  bleed.  She  set 
her  teeth  against  the  rising  sob.  The  sweet  lips 
whitened. 

So,  as  she  passed  into  the  outer  hall,  wild, 
reckless,  inwardly  sobbing,  a  tender,  magnificent 
presence  suddenly  confronted  her  —  a  form  as  tall, 
as  stately,  as  ample  of  bosom  as  were  the  other 
occupants  of  Mount  Grimroocl  pinched  and  spare. 
Dick  heard  the  soft  rustle  of  silk,  caught  the 
strange  gleam  of  precious  stones,  then  a  pair  of 
strong,  white  arms  enfolded  her ;  a  breath,  sweet 
as  Araby,  blew  on  her  face  ;  a  womanly,  loving 
heart  throbbed  against  hers,  and  warm  kisses  fell 
on  her  lips.  "  Run  up  to  my  room,"  whispered 
the  enchanting  voice ;  "  forty-six,  that  is.  Bean 
and  Calvin  and  Ratting  are  all  on  the  scent. 
Run,  child  !  I  shall  be  there  in  a  moment." 

That    breath    of   sweet    perfume,    that    loving 


PUT  ME  IN   WITH  THE   GOATS.         151 

heart-throb,  gave  swift  impulse  to  Dick's  feet. 
Alone  in  "  forty-six,"  whose  four  walls  had  caught 
something  of  the  rich  and  sumptuous  atmosphere 
of  their  owner,  Dick  waited  for  the  beautiful, 
strange  unknown.  When  the  unknown  entered 
she  was  fanning  herself.  She  sat  down  on  a  sofa 
—  it  was  the  only  sofa  Dick  had  seen  at  Mount 
Grimrood —  and  drew  Dick  to  her  side.  "There's 
no  air  here,"  she  gasped,  good-naturedly,  as  she 
swung  her  fan.  "  There's  none  to  be  had,  though 
I  keep  my  windows  open  day  and  night.  They've 
frightened  it  all  off  within  the  radius  of  a  mile  at 
least,  and  they  subsist  on  some  less  general  and 
vulgar  essence."  But  through  the  unknown's 
laughing  voice,  and  through  her  resplendent 
attire,  shone  such  a  wholesome,  bounteous,  sympa 
thetic  nature,  and  her  smiling  eyes  met  Dick's  so 
tenderly,  that,  in  the  one  brief  moment,  it  seemed 
to  my  lass  as  though  the  story  of  her  sorrow  had 
been  already  told  and  she  been  healed  with  a 
boundless  radiance. 

"Talk  to  me,"  she  said,  nursing  one  knee  with 
all  the  happiness  in  the  world.  "  I  love  you  !  "  said 
she,  fixing  her  eyes  on  the  unknown's  face  with 
boyish,  though  unblushing  ardor. 


I$2  TOW  HE  AD. 

The  smile  in  the  unknown's  eyes  deepened. 
"In  the  first  place,  then,  my  beautiful  child,"  said 
she ;  "  as  I  am  twenty-two  years  old  and  you  are 
some  years  younger,  I  will  take  the  liberty  to  sug 
gest  that  there  is  a  tolerably  large  rent  in  the  skirt 
of  your  dress  "  —  Dick  thought  with  guilty  joy  of 
last  night's  ride  on  the  banisters  —  "  and  as  your 
weather-stained  though  graceful  fingers  proclaim 
great  unfamiliarity  with  the  needle,  I  shall  be  de 
lighted  to  mend  it  for  you.  Meantime  you  may 
fan  me. 

"  My  name  is  Dakotah  West.  Papa's  name  is 
West.  He  made  his  fortune  and  lives  in  the 
West.  I  was  born  in  Dakotah,  and  they  named 
me  Dakotah  West.  Quite  a  vasty  and  salubrious 
name,  isn't  it  ?  But  I  was  a  very  vigorous  infant, 
and  I  have  always  been  able  to  carry  it  off  well, 
until  now,  since  I  came  East  to  be  cultured,  and 
have  found  such  a  thin  supply  of  air.  Papa  has 
no  end  of  money,  and  he  wanted  me  to  be  cul 
tured,  but  it  would  break  his  heart  if  he  knew  how 
I  had  been  scrimped  for  air. 

"  I  have  sojourned  at  various  wise  institutions, 
my  dear,  picking  up  a  crumb  herj  and  there,  like 
a  belated  bird  in  a  snow-storm,  and  many  means 


PUT  ME  IN  WITH   THE   GOATS.         153 

have  been  faithfully  exerted  in  my  behalf.  But  it 
is  all  the  same.  When  anything  strikes  me  as 
funny,  I  am  still  seized  with  an  irresistible  inclina 
tion  to  laugh  ;  when  anything  strikes  me  as  tear 
ful,  I  weep  ;  what  I  think,  if  I  say  anything,  I  am 
moved  on  every  occasion  to  say  ;  and  in  moments 
of  sudden  surprise  or  calamity,  I  shall  probably 
never  quite  recover  from  a  habit  of  giving  vent  to 
the  vulgar  exclamation  of  'Jemimy.'  No,  my 
dear,  I  have  a  simple,  kind,  well-meaning  nature, 
but  I  am  quite  convinced  that  I  shall  never  be 
cultured." 

At  the  delicious  laughter  of  Dakotah's  tone, 
Dick's  head  gave  a  delighted  little  bounce  against 
that  yielding  shoulder. 

"Always  study  Botany,  my  dear,"  continued 
Dakotah  West.  "  Under  the  pretence  of  dissecting 
nature,  you  will  get  excuse  for  many  a  long  ram 
ble.  I  assure  you,  I  do  not  know  the  calyx  from 
the  petal.  I  never  yet  picked  an  innocent  flower 
to  pieces  for  the  mere  purpose  of  classifying  it, 
and,  please  God,  I  never  shall.  But  I  am  a  wild, 
ardent,  and  devoted  student  of  Botany,  and  always 
take  it  up  as  a  specialty  when  it  happens  not  to  be 
included  in  the  year  or  in  the  course. 


154  TOW  HE  AD. 

"  In  spite  of  all,  I  cannot  but  see  that  I  am  re 
garded,  in  the  beginning,  even  by  these  harpies, 
with  a  sort  of  favor.  There  is  a  solidity  in  my 
presence  which  recommends  me,  though  my  flesh 
and  good-nature  must  ultimately  relegate  me  to 
the  society  of  the  uncultured,  and  even  of  the  unre- 
newed ;  but  you,  my  child,  you  are  a  sylph.  You 
mount,  you  fly,  you  disappear,  you  descend  again. 
Your  hair  is  an  angel's  dream.  Your  eyes,  when 
a  certain  peculiar  gleam  overtakes  them,  I  can  only 
describe  as  '  deeply,  darkly,  beautifully  '  mischiev 
ous.  They  do  not  in  the  least  understand  you. 
They  will  try  to  compose  your  limbs  with  Algebra 
and  tame  you  with  dialectics  and  frighten  you  with 
hell-fire.  But  there  is  a  simple  something,"  said 
Dakotah,  with  gentle  seriousness ;  "  that  alone 
moves  the  world  —  to  wit,  namely,  love.  Be  as 
quiet  as  you  can,  my  child.  When  a  heaven-born 
idea  strikes  you,  occasionally  reserve  it.  Yet  I 
greatly  fear  me  that  the  walls  of  Mount  Grimrood 
will  not  contain  you  long." 

Dick's  head  gave  another  bounce  against  Da- 
kotah's  shoulder,  and  rested  there.  Dakotah  put 
down  her  needle  ?.nd  drew  Dick  up  in  her  arms, 
and  stroked  her  golden  mane.  "  You  don't  mind 


PUT  ME  IN   WITH   THE   GOATS.         155 

my  calling  you  Towhead  ?  "  she  said,  smiling  down 
with  that  tender,  soothing  gesture.  "  I  call  Harry 
that,  sometimes  —  Harry  Fortune.  He's  «wfortu- 
nate  enough  in  some  things,  poor  fellow !  But  he 
is  handsome  and  good,  and  he  has  the  loveliest  light 
hair,  like  yours.  I  haven't  found  any  one  before 
that  I  wanted  to  speak  to  about  him  since  I  came 
East  —  and  I  love  him  so  !  I  hunger  to  see  him  so  ! 
You  make  me  think  of  him.  He  is  so  brave  and 
bright,  and  always  running  into  some  danger  and 
getting  hurt,  and  then  his  eyes  look  as  happy  and 
dreamy  over  it  as  though  they'd  never  waked  np. 
He's  poor,  and  he  works  in  papa's  mills ;  and  he 
hasn't  any  relatives ;  and  he  saved  some  people  once, 
when  the  dam  broke  down,  and  got  awfully  hurt, 
and  walks  a  little  lame  ever  since  ;  and  he  made  an 
invention  and  somebody  stole  it  ;  and  so  on,  and 
so  on  ;  but  still  his  eyes  keep  dreaming  and  smil 
ing  on  as  though  they'd  never  waked  up. 

"  I'm  engaged  to  him,  and  papa  knows  it.  And 
papa  thinks  everything  of  him  in  the  mills  ;  but  a 
man  is  different,  and  I  suppose  when  papa  sent  me 
East  to  be  cultured  he  thought  I  might  forget 
Harry  Fortune.  But  not  all  the  teachers  and 
schools  between  the  two  oceans  could  ever  culture 
my  heart  away  from  Harry  Fortune." 


156  TOWHEAD. 

Dick  had  been  inclined  to  feel  a  little  jealous 
when  Harry  Fortune's  name  was  introduced,  but 
as  she  looked  up  into  Dakotah's  brave,  shining 
eyes,  where  the  tears  shone,  too,  at  the  same  time, 
a  generous  sympathy  glowed  in  her  heart. 

"  I  want  you  to  make  my  room  your  home,  little 
girl,"  said  Dakotah,  brightly,  brushing  away  the 
tears.  "  I  have  a  room  quite  to  myself.  I  brought 
a  note  from  a  physician  saying  that  I  must  have 
more  air.  But  air  and  sunlight  and  breeze,  you 
bring  them  all  in  with  you,  Dick.  Come  to  me 
whenever  you  can." 

As  Dick  stepped  out  into  the  hall,  the  vision  of 
that  plenteous  grace  and  beauty  and  love  still  fol 
lowed  her.  To  be  womanly  !  To  know  how  to 
sew  —  how  deftly  the  white  fingers  had  mended 
her  dress  !  To  be  so  gracious  !  To  sit  so  tranquil 
and  still !  To  love  unselfishly  !  A  sudden,  vague, 
half-frightened  yearning  that  had  never  been  there 
before,  crept  into  my  Dick's  wild  heart. 

On  her  way  down  the  stairs  Dick  met  the  laugh 
ing  Hawaii.  Hawaii's  face  was  full  of  a  bright 
mystery.  She  led  the  way  to  a  room  where  there 
was  a  musty  odor,  and  various  strange  physiolog 
ical  specimens  lying  about,  and,  in  the  centre,  a 
mounted  human  skeleton. 


PUT  ME  IN  WITH   THE  GOATS.         157 

Dick  had  always  had  an  idea,  in  a  general  sort 
of  way,  that  her  own  fair  flesh  covered  bones,  but 
she  had  never  before  gazed  upon  this  unmitigated 
aspect  of  the  human  frame.  A  singular  fascina 
tion  drew  her  nearer  to  it ;  she  touched  it  cau 
tiously  with  the  tip  of  her  finger,  and  then 
withdrew  a  little. 

"  Who  was  it  ?  "  she  whispered  to  Hawaii. 

Hawaii  enjoyed  the  situation.  "  She  was  a 
teacher,"  she  answered,  mysteriously ;  "  and  she  all 
dried  up." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Dick. 

"  Do  they  keep  it  to  try  dresses  on  ? "  Dick 
asked,  presently. 

"  No,"  said  Hawaii ;  "  she's  a  model." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Dick,  again. 

Both  of  the  young  things  now  stood  gazing  at 
the  skeleton,  until,  mingled  with  the  awe  on  their 
faces,  there  came  at  last  a  strange  hankering  to 
possess. 

"  Do  you  suppose  they  want  it  for  anything  ? " 
said  Dick  to  Hawaii. 

"No,"  said  Hawaii;  "it  was  just  shut  up  in  here 
all  alone." 

Dick  thought  another  space.     "  I  should  like  to 


158  TOW  HE  AD. 

put  it  in  the  closet  to  take  my  '  half  -hours, '"  she 
said.  "It's  awfully  cold  and  dark  in  there,  but  she 
wouldn't  mind  now,  you  know." 

"  No,"  said  Hawaii ;  "she  wouldn't  mind." 
Silently  Dick  and  Hawaii  carried  the  skeleton 
through  the  now  empty  halls.  F.  Armenia  Stet 
son  and  B.  Arabella  Bell  were  both  absent  at  their 
recitations  ;  so  the  skeleton-bearers  passed  bravely 
on  their  unimpeded  progress  through  the  room, 
and  deposited  their  precious  burden  in  the  closet. 
They  then  returned  to  their  quest  for  entertain 
ment  in  the  halls,  with  the  air  of  those  whom  one 
bright  discovery  has  inspired  with  boundless 
hope.  They  did  not  know  that  the  solemn  bell 
for  study-hours  had  pealed  through  Mount  Grim- 
rood  Seminary  ;  that  most  of  the  pupils  were 
in  the  various  class-rooms  at  their  recitations ; 
that  the  juniors  (among  whom  they  were  prop 
erly  classed)  were  undergoing  their  examina 
tions  in  the  seminary  hall.  But  they  were  dis 
covered  at  last,  and  led  in  to  the  ordeal,  Dick  sta 
tioned  at  one  extreme  of  the  hall  and  Hawaii  at 
the  other,  and  their  examination  papers  given  to 
them.  The  first  was  Arithmetic,  the  answers  to  be 
written.  Dick  gazed  at  the  enigmatical  sheet  with 


PUT  ME  IN  WITH  THE   GOATS.          1 59 

much  wonder  and  some  curiosity.  Hawaii,  who 
had  solved  her  problems  in  a  trice,  watched  from 
afar.  The  guardian  teachers  on  the  throne  did  not 
notice,  among  the  many  bowed  heads,  the  sudden, 
swift,  silent,  and  entire  disappearance  of  Hawaii's 
bright  head.  Down  on  the  floor  of  the  seminary 
hall,  down  under  the  feet  of  the  wondering  juniors, 
noiselessly,  steadily,  hand  over  hand,  Hawaii  crept 
with  her  copy  of  written  answers  to  Dick's  relief. 


160  TOWHEAD. 


CHAPTER    X. 
DICK'S  LAST  HOPE— IN  AFRICA. 

~T^\ICK  began  to  find  life  at  Mount  Grimrood 
Seminary  not  without  its  spice  and  entertain 
ment.  There  was  not,  to  be  sure,  the  noble  and 
healthful  exhilaration  about  it  that  there  had  been 
in  riding  her  horse  and  rowing  her  boat  at 
Dymsbury  Park,  but  it  gave  room  for  infinite 
speculation  and  a  wide  variety  of  tactics.  There 
was  the  secret  enticing  consciousness  that,  at  every 
step,  she  was  overpassing  the  barrier  of  some 
mysterious  rule.  Then  she  discovered  within  her 
self  a  supernatural  aptness  for  detecting  the  still 
approach  of  Miss  Calvin,  Miss  Ratting,  and  Miss 
Bean,  and  secured  an  equal  development  in  the 
faculty  of  flight.  She  met  the  laughing  Hawaii  at 
every  turn,  and  boldly  and  without  any  soft  affec 
tation  of  regret,  eluded  the  society  of  F.  Armenia 
Stetson  and  B.  Arabella  Bell.  When,  at  night, 
slumber  held  its  brief  sway  over  the  senses  of  the 
studious  B.  Arabella,  Dick  stole  softly  from  her 


DICK'S  LAST  HOPE  — IN  AFRICA.        161 

couch,  and  fled  to  the  reposeful  arms  of  Dakotah 
West,  in  "forty-six." 

All  these  things  had  given  to  my  Dick,  as  she 
went  in  to  devotions  on  her  third  morning  at 
Mount  Grimrood  Seminary,  an  easy  and  conscious 
air  of  victory.  The  proceedings  which  followed 
fell  on  her  like  a  thunderbolt.  After  the  usual 
exercises  there  was  a  silence,  and  then  an  ominous 
clearing  of  Miss  Milton's  throat. 

"  Young  ladies,"  the  principal  of  Mount  Grim- 
rood  began,  with  pall-like  gravity  ;  "  yesterday  — 
during  study  hours  —  while  we  were  all  supposed 
—  to  be  engaged  —  at  our  various  quiet  and  appro 
priate  tasks  —  our  valuable  skeleton  —  was  wilfully 
and  secretly  abducted  —  from  the  physiological 
department —  and  carried,  —  young  ladies,  —  for 
some  time  —  we  could  discern  not  whither. 

"This  morning, — young  ladies,  —  as  our  dear 
Miss  Stetson  approached  her  closet  —  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  her  devotional  half-hour  —  and 
abstractedly  opened  the  door  —  she  was  shocked 
and  appalled  —  on  being  encountered — by  the 
unexpected  apparition  —  of  an  unclothed  —  human 
skeleton.  By  an  almost  superhuman  control  of 
her  nerves  —  she  was  prevented  —  from  falling 


1 62  TOWHEAD. 

prostrate  —  on  the  floor.  What  might  have  been 
the  effect  —  of  this  sudden  shocking  spectacle  — 
upon  the  more  delicate  —  organization  —  of  our 
dear  Miss  Bell  —  we  tremble, — young  ladies, — 
to  contemplate. 

"  But  how  shall  we  designate  —  this  affair  ? 
And  what  term  shall  we  properly  —  apply- — to 
the  miscreant  ?  The  wilful  purloining  of  our  skel 
eton, —  what  was  it,  —  young  ladies,  —  but  abduc 
tion  ?  And  what  a  turbulent  spirit  —  must  dwell 
within  that  one  —  of  our  number  —  who  could 
recklessly  inflict  —  such  a  shock  —  upon  the  nerves 
—  of  a  precious  schoolmate  ! 

"I  must  desire  —  that  the  perpetrator  —  or  per 
petrators  —  of  this  act  —  appear  —  at  my  private 
apartment  —  immediately  —  after  this  exercise." 

Again  Dick  passed  out  of  the  Seminary  Hall 
beneath  the  suspicious  and  condemnatory  gaze  of 
many  eyes.  "  Abductor  !  Perpetrator  !  "  the  many 
eyes  seemed  to  say,  with  dark  and  criminal  signifi 
cance.  "  Abductor !  Perpetrator  !  " 

Dakotah  West  was  making  desperate  wafts  of  air 
with  her  fan,  as  she  drew  Dick  into  a  little  passage 
way  in  the  outer  hall.  "It  was  you,  of  course  — 
oh,  my  Towhead  !  "  said  she. 


DICK'S  LAST  HOPE  — IN  AFRICA.       163 

"  Oh,  Dakotah,"  said  Dick,  impulsively ;  "  I 
didn't  think  of  stealing  their  old  skeleton  —  and  I 
didn't  do  it  to  frighten  that  Bean  girl  or  that  Stet 
son  girl,  either." 

"  What  did  you  do  it  for,  oh,  my  Towhead  ?  " 
said  Dakotah. 

"Because,"  said  Dick;  "I'd  never  seen  one  be 
fore,  and  I  wanted  to  look  at  it  some  more ;  and 
besides  —  oh,  Dakotah  !  it  was  so  chilly  and  dark  in 
that  closet,  and  I  put  it  in  there  to  take  my  '  half- 
hours.'  ' 

Dakotah  dropped  her  fan,  and  sank  breathless  on 
the  floor.  "  Go,  immortal  one  !  "  she  gasped  ;  "  go, 
and  confess  your  crime  !  Oh,  when  will  those 
unfathomable  eyes  of  yours  awaken  to  the  ways  of 
this  little  world  ?  But  come  to  my  room  after 
wards,  forgiven  or  imforgiven,  for  I  had  a  beautiful 
box  of  goodies  arrive  this  morning,  and  you  shall 
find  consolation." 

Dick  proceeded  on  her  way  to  the  tribunal, 
expecting  every  moment  to  overtake  Hawaii  ;  but, 
for  once,  the  bright  form  of  Hawaii  was  not  visible, 
neither  was  she  in  Miss  Milton's  room  when 
Dick  arrived  there.  Dick  was  disappointed,  not  so 
much  because  she  wanted  a  companion  in  disgrace, 


1 64  TOW  HE  AD. 

as  that  one  whom  she  held  so  dear  and  brave  as 
Hawaii  should  offend  against  the  simple  code  of 
honor  which  had  ever  prevailed  at  Dymsbury  Park. 

"  Did  you  carry  —  the  skeleton  —  to  your  room  — 
alone?"  said  Miss  Milton,  in  the  course  of  her 
earnest  remonstrance  with  Dick. 

Dick  was  true  to  the  code.  Under  the  circum 
stances  she  would  have  considered  it  more  honor 
able  to  tell  a  hundred  lies  than  to  implicate  the 
recreant  Hawaii. 

Miss  Milton  then  proposed  a  day  of  solitary  con 
finement  for  Dick.  She  was  to  be  locked  in  her 
room  and  remain  there,  contemplative,  fasting, 
until  supper  time.  "  And  furthermore,"  said  Miss 
Milton;  "you  must  never  —  appear  again  among 
your  schoolmates  —  with  your  hair  —  in  that  loose 
and  wanton  —  condition.  You  must  confine  it  — 
to  your  head  —  in  some  decorous  —  and  appro 
priate  —  manner." 

As  Dick  passed  out  of  Miss  Milton's  room,  she 
instantly  encountered  the  merry  eyes  of  Hawaii, 
peering  out  at  her  from  behind  a  safe  post  of 
observation.  "  I  thought  I  wouldn't  go  in,"  said 
Hawaii.  "  I  knew  you  wouldn't  tell.  And  I 
knew  it  wouldn't  make  so  much  difference  with 


DICE'S  LAST  HOPE  — IN  AFRICA.        165 

you.      You   ain't    going   to    be    a  missionary,  you 
know." 

Dick's  clear  eyes  met  Hawaii's  without  reproach, 
as  she  passed  on  to  her  doom.  A  messenger  was 
soon  sent  by  Miss  Milton,  and  Dick's  door  was 
locked  on  the  outside.  In  vain  Hawaii  lingered 
about  outside  —  but  when  Dick  heard  the  retreat 
of  the  beloved  Dakotah's  footsteps,  her  heart  sank. 
The  dinner-hour  approached.  Hungry  and  sad, 
Dick  was  leaning  out  of  the  window,  when  she 
felt  a  touch  on  her  shoulder.  It  was  a  basket  let 
down  by  Dakotah  from  an  empty  recitation-room 
some  stories  above.  Dick  looked  up.  Dakotah  was 
beaming  down  upon  her,  from  that  height,  like  an 
angel ;  but  she  put  her  fingers  to  her  lips.  If  Dick 
had  known,  this  sort  of  communication  was  a  ter 
rible  infraction  on  the  laws  of  Mount  Grimrood ; 
but  in  the  happiness  of  the  moment  she  never 
thought  of  referring  to  her  long  list  of  faithfully 
copied  rules.  The  basket  contained  oranges, 
sweet  crackers,  sponge-cake,  and  a  nearly  upright 
pitcher  of .  lemonade.  Dick  unloaded  it  with  a 
grateful  heart,  and  Dakotah  drew  it  up  empty,  — 
save  for  a  little  inky  message  of  love  and  thanks 
giving,  which  she,  however,  put  away,  smiling,  as 


1 66  TOW  HE  AD. 

though  she  considered  it  something  quite  precious. 
The  basket  descended  again  with  words  of  conso 
lation,  and  repeated  its  upward  journey  with  buoy 
ancy,  containing  large  expressions  of  hope  ;  and  in 
this  sweet  communication  an  hour  passed  quickly. 
Refreshed,  Dick  was  enabled  to  deliberate  cheer 
fully  whether  she  should  now  compose  herself  to 
write  a  sermon,  or  a  letter  to  Excelluna.  She 
finally  decided  on  the  latter  course,  and  indited 
such  a  long  and  picturesque  account  of  the  situa 
tion  at  Mount  Grimrood  Seminary  as,  on  reperusal, 
made  a  really  glowing  appeal  to  her  own  sympa 
thies.  But  when  she  considered  how  it  would 
cause  fond  Excelluna  to  weep  and  wonder,  and 
wrestle,  all  tearful  and  alone,  with  the  powers  of 
darkness,  she  tore  it  up  and  wrote  a  few  short 
lines  instead,  telling  her  how  she  thought,  all  the 
time,  of  her  and  dear  Dymsbury  Park,  and  how 
she  thought  she  was  getting  toned  down  very  fast 
at  Mount  Grimrood.  This  done,  she  was  surprised 
to  find  how  near  it  was  to  the  time  of  her  release. 
She  bethought  her  of  what  Miss  Milton  had  said 
about  her  hair ;  that  she  must  never  appear  with  it 
again  in  a  wanton  condition,  but  must  confine  it 
somehow  to  her  head. 


DICK'S  LAST  HOPE  — IN  AFRICA.        167 

Dick  wandered  to  the  glass  and  ruminated 
vaguely.  Then  her  eyes  fell  upon  Miss  Bell's 
curling-irons,  and  she  remembered  how  a  certain 
Miss  Ratting,  among  the  teachers  at  Mount  Grim- 
rood,  whose  hair  also  was  light,  wore  a  tight  coil  at 
the  nape  of  the  neck  and  three  curls  at  each  ear. 
Dick  remembered  how,  as  Miss  Ratting  walked, 
the  wiry  blonde  curls  bobbed  methodically  up  and 
down ;  and  now,  with  a  definite  object  and  ideal  in 
view,  she  set  herself  to  work  to  imprison  her  own 
silken  mane.  So  absorbed  she  grew  in  this  novel 
and  almost  exciting  pursuit  she  could  hardly 
realize  that  another  hour  had  passed  when  she 
heard  the  supper-bell  peal  through  the  hall,  and, 
a  moment  afterwards,  the  withdrawing  of  the  bolt 
in  her  door.  Taking  a  last  sidelong  glance  in  the 
glass,  as  she  passed  out,  Dick  saw  with  satisfaction 
that  the  golden  coil  in  her  neck,  though  ragged 
and  turbulent-looking,  was  firmly  secured  ;  and  that 
the  six  cruelly  heated  and  unnatural  curls  stuck  out 
stiffly  from  her  head,  and  that,  as  she  walked,  —  un 
consciously  assuming  something  of  Miss  Ratting's 
sedate  and  measured  tread  —  they  bobbed  method 
ically  up  and  down. 

Dick  had  grown  so  used  by  this  time  to  having 


1 68  TOW  HE  AD. 

her  advent,  on  any  occasion,  heralded  by  a 
mysterious  silence,  that  the  impressive  stillness 
which  instantly  prevailed  as  she  entered  the  dining- 
hall  caused  her  little  surprise.  With  an  increased 
stateliness  of  tread,  which  caused  a  still  loftier  dance 
of  the  dreadful  curls,  she  passed  on  to  her  seat ; 
when  suddenly,  from  the  other  end  of  the  room, 
there  arose,  in  a  voice  which  she  recognized  as 
Hawaii's,  an  irrepressible  shrill  scream  of  glee, 
followed,  from  the  quarter  where  Dakotah  sat 
fanning  herself,  by  ripple  after  ripple  of  perfectly 
spontaneous  laughter.  That  wild  scream  of  de 
light,  those  helpless  ripples  of  laughter,  spread 
like  a  contagion  through  the  dining-hall  of 
Mount  Grimrood  Seminary,  and  echoed  from  lip 
to  lip.  At  this  auspicious  moment  Dick's  heart 
bounded  with  hope.  She  was  about  to  propose 
an  insurrection  on  the  spot  —  when  the  mirth 
subsided,  and  she  was  led  quietly  away  by  Miss 
Milton  herself.  The  effect  of  the  day's  solitary 
confinement  upon  Dick  had  not  been  such  as  Miss 
Milton  had  hoped  for. 

After  a  certain  number  of  infringements  on  the 
rules  of  Mount  Grimrood,  it  was  written,  the  pu 
pil's  relation  with  that  institution  must  cease.  It 


DICK'S  LAST  HOPE  — IN  AFRICA.        169 

appeared  that  Dick  had  already  far  passed  the 
goal,  but  she  bore  the  news  that  her  probation 
was  virtually  at  an  end  with  such  unaffected,  even 
cheerful  resignation,  that  Miss  Milton  concluded, 
in  view  of  so  peculiar  and  urgent  a  case,  and  the 
unfortunate  circumstances  attending  Dick's  early 
training,  to  give  her  one  more  trial. 

There  came  at  about  this  time,  as  Dick  remem 
bers,  to  Mount  Grimrood  Seminary  a  week  in  which 
the  lessons,  all  secular  duties,  were  given  up,  and 
the  long  hours  devoted  to  exclusively  religious 
meetings  in  the  large  hall  and  in  the  parlors. 
Under  the  protracted  solemnity  of  the  time,  Dick's 
unawakened  soul  was  filled  with  a  horrible  wonder. 
But  the  laughing  Hawaii,  of  a  different  nature, 
succumbed  at  last  to  the  strange  influence. 

That  Hawaii  was  going  to  be  good  struck  Dick 
as  a  mournful,  even  a  tragic  circumstance.  Her 
friend's  blue  eyes,  when  she  met  her  now,  though 
smiling,  were  strange  and  subdued,  often  suffused 
with  tears.  She  waited  for  Dick  no  more  in  all 
forbidden  places  between  the  cupola  and  the  base 
ment,  nor  ever  called  to  her  gayly  again  from  her 
perch  on  the  banisters  ;  and  at  last  Dick  missed 
her  face  in  the  public  places  of  the  school,  at  de- 


1 70  TOWHEAD. 

votions,  and  at  the  table.  Then  she  heard  that 
Hawaii  had  been  taken  ill  and  had  been  removed 
to  the  "  sick  ward."  Poor  Dick  honestly  believed 
that  it  was  all  in  consequence  of  her  friend's  con 
version,  and  a  nameless  dread  and  bitterness  crept 
into  her  heart.  She  thought,  too,  that  Hawaii 
would  die ;  and  that  had  meant  something  beauti 
ful  at  Dymsbury  Park,  Excelluna  had  discovered, 
through  her  far-offs,  —  but  to  die,  at  Mount  Grim- 
rood  !  Dick  shuddered.  She  wandered  much  up 
and  down  the  halls,  disappearing  deftly  at  the  ap 
proach  of  the  teachers,  a  pitifully  desolate  and 
hunted  look  on  her  face,  nor  in  her  despair  would 
even  go  to  the  loving  Dakotah  for  comfort. 

A  missionary  from  Africa  came  to  preach  at 
Mount  Grimrood  Seminary.  He  preached  two 
long  sermons  with  weary  statistics,  which  the 
pupils  were  requested  to  copy.  In  the  evening  he 
preached  again,  but  this  time  it  was  a  personal 
appeal  to  the  young  women  of  Mount  Grimrood 
to  leave  their  native  land,  homes,  friends,  expecta 
tions,  to  carry  the  torch  of  salvation  into  benighted 
Africa.  A  box  was  to  be  left  on  a  window-shelf 
in  the  Seminary  Hall,  and,  ere  the  retiring  bell 
rang  that  night,  those  who  would  leave  all  to  go 


DICK'S  LAST  HOPE— IN  AFRICA.        I /I 

on  the  mission  were  to  drop  their  names  on  a  slip 
of  paper  in  the  box. 

Dick  had  listened  intently.  The  description  of 
the  unfettering  costumes,  the  free  and  easy  man 
ners,  the  wild,  out-of-door  life  of  the  original  heathen 
caused,  Dick  confessed  to  herself,  with  a  guilty  sort 
of  ecstasy,  a  kindred  chord  to  vibrate  in  her  own 
bosom.  It  appeared  to  her  that  by  joining  herself 
ostensibly  to  the  missionaries  she  might,  on  her 
arrival  at  the  shores  of  Africa,  escape  into  the 
happy  and  enticing  borders  of  the  heathen.  At  all 
events  it  seemed  to  be  preferable  to  remaining  at 
Mount  Grimrood  Seminary.  She  wrote  her  name 
on  a  slip  of  paper,  and,  as  the  poor  moth  hovers,  fas 
cinated  though  half  unwilling,  about  the  destroying 
flame,  so  Dick  drew  ever  nearer  and  nearer  to  that 
mysterious  box.  Then,  through  the  little  chink  at 
the  top,  she  dropped  in  her  name.  There  was  no 
withdrawing  it.  Miss  Milton  alone  held  the  key 
that  unlocked  that  dark  treasury.  Dick  dropped 
in  her  name,  turned,  stood  one  moment  with  wild 
eyes,  then  put  her  hands  to  her  ears  and  fled  from 
the  room. 

As  the  retiring  bell  rang,  the  missionary  box 
was  brought  to  Miss  Milton.  She  opened  it  and 


172  TOW  HE  AD. 

read  the  names.  At  one  name  she  gave  a  quick 
start  of  surprise.  Then  a  flush  as  of  some  good 
triumph  or  delight  overspread  her  features.  "  Poor 
child  !  "  she  murmured  ;  "  she  has  been  touched  at 
last,  and  in  her  blind,  childlike,  impetuous  way, 
she,  too,  longs  to  devote  herself  to  the  great 
work."  With  that  one  little  slip  of  paper  in  her 
hand,  the  principal  of  Mount  Grimrood  rose  to 
find  Dick.  Passing  through  the  dim  Seminary 
Hall,  she  paused  suddenly  before  a  shock  of  light 
hair  and  a  prostrate  form  stretched  on  one  of  the 
wooden  benches.  It  was  even  the  object  of  her 
search,  desolate,  wandering  Dick  herself.  But 
Miss  Milton  did  not  stop  then  to  remonstrate. 

"  I  was  on  my  way  —  to  your  room  — my  child," 
she  said,  sitting  down  at  Dick's  head 

Dick  raised  herself,  looking  like  an  animal  at 
bay. 

"  I  wanted  to  tell  you,"  Miss  Milton  went  on, 
"what  a  happy  surprise  —  it  gave  me — -to  find 
your  name  —  in  the  box.  You  are  so  young  — 
we  cannot  yet  —  accept  the  sacrifice.  But  did  it 
really  seem  to  you  —  that  you  would  like  to  join 
us  —  in  our  missionary  work  ?  " 

Dick  lausrhed.     It  was  half  a  laueh  and  half  a 


DICK^S  LAST  HOPE  — IN  AFRICA.        1/3 

dry,  defiant  sob.  Dick,  though  she  had  sometimes 
suffered,  had  not  yet  learned  how  to  cry. 

"  Let  the  tears  come  —  poor  child.  It  is  good 
for  us  —  sometimes.  It  is  a  relief,"  said  Miss 
Milton's  weary  voice. 

"  I  never  cry !  "  retorted  Dick,  quite  savagely. 

"And  did  it  really — seem  to  you  —  that  you 
would  like  --  to  join  us  —  in  our  missionary 
work  ? "  Miss  Milton  patiently  repeated. 

"  No  !  "  said  Dick,  with  perfect  recklessness  ; 
"  it  was  because  I  thought,  if  I  went  out  there,  I 
might  get  a  chance  to  join  the  heathen !  " 

"  Is  it  so  !  "  Miss  Milton  answered  gently,  with 
out  a  shadow  of  rebuke  in  her  tone.  "  Is  it  so  — 
is  it  so;"  she  slowly  repeated  to  herself.  The 
strange  quietness  of  her  tone  touched  Dick.  "  I 
have  been  thinking,"  Miss  Milton  continued  ;  "  I 
may  not  always  —  have  understood  —  my  dear. 
You  were  left  motherless  —  I  have  been  a  home 
less,  childless  woman — I  have  dealt  generally  — 
with  trained  minds.  My  heart  yearns  over  you  — 
but  my  position  was  one  —  of  care  and  respon 
sibility  for  so  many.  You  will  forgive  me  —  I  am 
so  tired  —  it  is  hard  for  me  to  speak.  It  will  all 
be  well  —  in  the  end." 


1/4  TOWHEAD. 

As  Miss  Milton  uttered  these  disconnected  sen 
tences  in  her  broken,  impressive  tone  of  voice, 
Dick  crept  nearer  to  her  and  even  put  out  a  hand 
to  touch  her  dress. 

"  I  could  not  bear  the  excitement  —  it  would 
have  caused  —  had  I  announced  my  intention  —  to 
the  school,"  Miss  Milton  went  on.  "  I  am  going 
away  —  to-morrow.  I  am  going  —  with  the  expe 
dition —  to  help  in  the  founding  —  of  a  school  in 
Africa.  Miss  Calvin  —  will  take  my  place  —  here. 
It  will  all  —  be  well." 

Miss  Milton's  broken  voice  again  failed  her,  and 
Dick's  hand  crept  up  softly  to  the  principal  of 
Mount  Grimrood's  knees.  "  If  I  ever  return," 
said  Miss  Milton  ;  "it  will  not  be  —  for  long  years 
to  come.  I  am  tired  —  but  I  am  calm  —  to-night. 
I  believe  it  will  all  —  be  well.  Promise  me 
that  you  will  go  to  your  room  now.  I  shall  not 
see  you  again  —  dear  child.  Good  night  —  good 
bye." 

But  Dick  had  drawn  very  close  to  Miss  Milton. 
With  wondering  pity  she  lifted  up  both  cool  hands 
and  stroked  the  hollow,  feverish  cheeks.  Then, 
because  it  seemed  to  her  that  it  would  comfort  the 


DICK 'S  LA ST  HOPE  —  IN  AFRICA.        1 7 5 

principal  of  Mount  Grimrood,  she  put  her  lips  to 
them  with  kisses. 

Amazed  at  this  final,  strange  capture  of  the 
prodigal,  the  principal  of  Mount  Grimrood,  with  an 
almost  passionate  yearning  and  regret  strained 
Dick  to  her  heart. 


TOW  HE  AD. 


CHAPTER    XI. 
EXPELLED. 

A  S   the   inflexible    Miss    Calvin   ascended    the 
throne   vacated   by  Miss    Milton,   Dick  had 
a  quiet  and  perfectly  secure  consciousness  that  her 
days  at  Mount  Grimrood  were  numbered. 

Every  morning,  with  her  fan  in  one  hand  and 
her  botanical  box  in  the  other,  Dakotah  West 
swept  splendidly  out  of  the  halls  of  Mount  Grim- 
rood.  Something  in  Dakotah's  presence  im 
pressed  the  teacher  who  granted  her  this  unusual 
permission  with  the  feasibility  of  the  plan,  imply 
ing,  as  it  seemed  to,  large  researches  and  possible 
new  discoveries  in  the  botanical  realm.  Dick, 
professing  a  similar  penchant,  had  frequently 
obtained,  under  Miss  Milton's  rule,  a  similar 
permission ;  but  her  saunterings  were  now  legally 
restricted  to  a  walk  to  the  "  Half-mile  post,"  a 
simple  slab  which  marked  the  ordinary  close  of  the 
digressions  of  the  pupils  of  Mount  Grimrood. 
Dick's  egress,  therefore,  was  made  through  a  nar- 


EXPELLED.  177 

row  window  in  the  basement,  where  she  crept  out 
unobserved  and  sped  like  a  deer  across  the  fields. 

Dick  and  Dakotah  met  at  a  clump  of  pine-trees 
just  out  of  sight  of  the  seminary  walls.  There,  in 
waiting,  with  his  quaint  country  horse  and  wagon, 
stood  a  simple,  good-natured  lad  of  the  village,  by 
name  Neddie  Farmer.  Him  had  my  Dick  and 
Dakotah  approached  one  day  in  the  fields  as  a  rare 
and  deserving  specimen,  and  had  invited  him  to 
employ  his  fascinating  equipage  in  carrying  them 
about  country  at  a  commission  far  greater  than  he 
was  accustomed  to  earn  at  the  plough.  Neddie 
Farmer  at  last  consented.  Though  himself  of  a 
highly  mirthful  temperament,  he  seemed  to  regard 
the  conduct  of  these  two  young  ladies  as  mys 
teriously  wild  and  doubtful,  and  deemed  it  neces 
sary  to  assume  in  their  presence  some  shining 
intention  of  being  sedate.  But  neither  the  tall  hat 
of  antique  shape  nor  the  lugubrious  black  coat 
which  he  wore  while  driving  them  could  put  an 
entire  check  on  his  native  propensities.  He 
replied  to  any  remark  of  theirs  with  the  utmost 
reserve  and  circumspection,  but  could  not  help 
exclaiming  delightedly,  on  occasion,  "  There's  a 
chip-munk !  "  After  which  they  saw  his  ears 


178  TOW  HE  AD. 

beneath  his  tall  hat  pitifully  suffused  with 
blushes. 

But  it  was  in  view  of  a  wayside-well  that  all  right 
eousness  forsook  Neddie  Farmer.  He  was  accus 
tomed  to  leap  from  the  wagon,  unloose  the  bucket, 
and,  as  it  went  madly  clattering  on  its  way  down 
the  well,  spring  back  to  his  seat  and  apply  the  lash 
to  his  horse.  Nor  could  the  sombre  aspect  of  his 
hugely  enveloping  hat  conceal  the  deep  smile  which 
played  on  his  features  as  he  looked  back  to  see  the 
startled  housewives  shaking  their  brooms  and 
mops  at  him  in  the  distance.  It  was  partly, 
no  doubt,  on  account  of  this  playful  habit  of  Neddie 
Farmer's  that  the  party  found  it  more  agreeable  to 
drive  in  a  new  direction  each  day.  Among  the 
fresh  breezes  on  the  hills,  Dakotah  temporarily 
laid  aside  her  fan  and  expanded  to  the  full  her 
starving  chest,  and  Dick  was  supremely  happy. 

One  evening,  alighting,  as  was  their  wont,  at  the 
clump  of  pine-trees,  they  started  suddenly  to  see 
an  irate  and  fantastic  figure  rising  out  of  the 
brush.  It  was  the  ringleted  Miss  Bean,  who  had 
been  lying  in  wait  for  them,  and  whose  worst  sus 
picions  were  now  verified. 

That    he    considered   it,  in  somebody's  case  at 


EXPELLED.  179 

least,  as  a  remarkable  instance  of  letting  the 
bucket  down  the  well,  was  evident  by  the  speed 
with  which  Neddie  Farmer  turned  his  horse  about 
and  put  out  for  the  main  road. 

"  I  suppose  you  know  the  result  of  this  con 
duct,  young  ladies,"  said  Miss  Bean,  in  tones  as 
clear  and  cold  as  fate.  "  It  is,  I  can  confidently 
assure  you,  nothing  less  than  expulsion.  You  have 
been  discovered  driving  outside  the  seminary 
grounds.  You  have  been  discovered,  young 
ladies,  driving  with  a  man  /" 

Having  thus  pronounced  the  crack  of  doom  over 
those  two  young  heads,  Miss  Bean  turned  and 
walked  rapidly  towards  the  house. 

Dick  and  Dakotah  followed  thoughtfully. 

"  So  Neddie  Farmer's  hat  and  coat  have  pro 
duced  an  effect  at  last,"  murmured  Dakotah. 
"  With  a  man  !  Truly  these  cloistered  souls  are 
indiscriminate  !  But  you  see,  there's  the  rub. 
With  a  man  !  Expelled  we  shall  be,  sure  enough. 
And  I  should  hate  to  decline  the  honor.  Already, 
my  sweetest  Towhead,  I  begin  to  breathe.  But 
first  the  teachers  will  have  to  spend  a  day  in 
solemn  conclave,  and  then  there  will  be  a  series  of 
meetings  appointed,  in  a  last  effort  for  our  mis 
guided  souls,  and  meantime,  oh  my  Dick " 


180  TOWHEAD. 

"  I  know,"  said  Dick,  with  sudden  eager  anima 
tion.  "  It  isn't  for  nothing  I  used  to  play  I  was  a 
boy  sometimes  at  Dymsbury  Park.  And  I've  got 
my  regimentals  with  me." 

Dick  whispered  in  Dakotah's  ear.  Dakotah 
sank  weakly  a  moment  by  the  wayside ;  then  rose 
with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"  You're  so  tall,  and  your  nose  is  such  a  perfectly 
elegant  shape,  you  might  do  it !  "  she  said. 
"  Which  are  you  going  to  take  ?  Which  are  you 
going  to  make  love  to  ? " 

"  I  shall  take  Miss  Bean,"  answered  Dick. 

Later  in  the  evening,  the  door-bell  of  Mount 
Grimrood  Seminary  rang  with  a  sharp,  elastic  peal. 
The  door-girl,  with  mingled  wonder  and  admiration, 
ushered  into  the  solitary  reception-room  a  slight 
but  distinguished-looking  and  strangely  fascinating 
youth.  The  loose  locks  from  his  brown  wig  fell 
over  a  clear,  white  forehead.  His  large,  golden- 
brown  eyes  gazed  with  singular  directness  through 
a  pair  of  eye-glasses,  which  bestrode  with  charm 
ing  effect  his  spirited  and  purely  aristocratic  nose, 
while  a  mustache,  also  of  a  golden  hue,  dropped 
over  his  exquisitely  moulded  lips.  But  when 
he  opened  those  sweet  lips  and  showed  his  white 


EXPELLED.  l8l 

teeth  and  sighed ;  "  Will  you  present  this  to  Miss 
Bean  ? "  the  door-girl  took  his  card,  upon  which 
was  inscribed  the  name  of  Reginald  De  Monterey, 
and  courtesied  with  an  involuntary  accent  of 
approval. 

Miss  Bean  entered  the  room  with  an  agitated 
air  and  a  smile  of  coy  and  unnatural  sweetness  : 
"  Mr.  De  Monterey,"  she  began,  as  the  exquisite 
youth  arose  and  cordially  grasped  her  hand  ;  "  I  do 
not  exactly  recall  —  I  am  happy,  I'm  sure  —  I  do 
not  remember " 

"What!"  impetuously  exclaimed  Reginald  De 
Monterey.  "  Do  not  remember  the  friend  of  your 
childish  school-days  !  The  little  Reggie  who  drew 
you  on  his  sled,  who  helped  you  over  the  stile, 
who " 

"  Oh,  indeed  !  "  simpered  Miss  Bean,  "the  name 
—  yes,  certainly  —  the  name,  yes,  I  think  it  begins 
to  grow  familiar.  But  how  —  how  you  have 
changed,  Mr.  —  a  —  Mr.  De  Monterey  !  " 

"  You  have  not  changed,"  sighed  Reginald  De 
Monterey,  putting  his  hand  to  his  chin  with  an  air 
of  dejected,  almost  desperate  musing. 

"Pray  be  seated,. Mr.  De  Monterey,"  said  Miss 
Bean. 


1 82  TOWHEAD. 

"  Ah,  it  was  natural  that  you  should  forget !  " 
said  De  Monterey,  recklessly  throwing  himself  into 
a  chair.  "  How  could  I  suppose,  having  carried 
your  sweet  image  with  me  from  childhood,  that  a 
similar  regard  had  been  awakened  and  cherished  in 
your  own  bosom !  It  was  madness.  I  have 
sought  you  out  and  found  you  at  last  in  vain. 
Wealth,  fame,  the  cold  approval  of  the  world  — 
I  have  gained  them  all,  and  they  are  all  as  nothing 
to  me,  for  it  seems  M.  Edna  Bean  has  forgotten 
me  !  "  De  Monterey  again  rose  and  rapidly  paced 
the  floor. 

Miss  Bean's  numerous  ringlets  seemed  fairly  to 
quiver  with  excitement.  "  But  certainly  I  begin 
to  remember/'  said  she  —  "and  the  eyes  —  I 
begin  —  certainly,  I  begin  to  recall  them " 

"  Has  forgotten  me  !  "  repeated  De  Monterey,  as 
though  he  had  not  heard,  still  pacing  the  floor. 
"I  confess,  Miss  Bean — since  I  may  not  call  you 
by  the  old  fond  name — that  I  came  to  this  quiet 
village  purposely  to  find  you  out.  I  have  observed 
you  here  at  church ;  yes,  and  in  your  solitary 
walks  among  the  pines,  —  nay,  do  not  start,  angelic 
creature !  you  could  not  deny  me  that  brief  privi 
lege.  And  I  have  seen  the  beauty  and  purity 


EXPELLED.  183 

which  I  adored  in  the  child  only  blooming  into  a 
richer  and  more  perfectly  bewildering  develop 
ment  in  the  maiden.  The  fond  hope  crept  into  my 
heart,  seeing  so  much  beauty  ungathered,  that  you 
too  cherished  an  image  !  Otherwise  it  seemed  to 
me  it  could  not  be." 

Miss  Bean  put  her  hand  to  her  mouth  and 
coughed,  for  some  moments,  with  extreme  ner 
vousness. 

"  It  cannot  be,"  plaintively  cried  De  Monterey, 
"that  the  fell  destroyer  of  our  northern  clime  has 
found  you  !  that  Death  has  chosen  you  for  his 
bride  !  You  are  not  consumptive  !  " 

"  Oh,  no  !  no  !  no,  indeed,  Mr.  De  Monterey," 
gasped  Miss  Bean. 

"  It  is  well,"  said  De  Monterey  ;  "  may  the  life 
that  is  not  to  bless  mine  long  shed  its  fragrance 
for  others.  Better  had  it  been  for  me  had  I  stayed 
away.  Has  forgotten  me  !  Farewell,  M.  Edna 
Bean  ;  but,  remember,  there  is  one  who  will  never 
forget  you.  Farewell. ' ' 

"  Pray,  pray  do  not  be  so  disconsolate,  Mr.  De 
Monterey,"  cried  Miss  Bean,  rising.  "  Do  not, 
do  not  despair." 

"What  !  "  exclaimed  De  Monterey,  turning  with 


1 84  TOWHEAD. 

passionate  abruptness;  "you  bid  me  not  to  de 
spair.  You,  M.  Edna  Bean  —  do  you,  do  you  bid 
me  hope  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  no,  indeed  !  That  is,  yes,  yes,  Mr. 
De  Monterey.  Hush  !  the  retiring  bell !  I  must 
go  !  I  must,  indeed  !  " 

"  But  say  that  you  will  meet  me  to-morrow  — 
at  the  pines." 

"I  —  oh — that  is  —  yes — /,  I  will,"  whispered 
Miss  Bean,  and  vanished  like  an  uneasy  ghost. 

Reginald  De  Monterey  passed  out  of  the  door 
and  then  crept  along  under  the  shadow  of  the 
house  to  the  basement  window,  through  which  Da- 
kotah  West  received  him  to  her  arms.  "  You  are 
a  perfect  little  Adonis  ! "  said  she.  "  But,  oh, 
what  would  Harry  Fortune  think  to  see  me  taking 
you  in  through  this  window  ?  And  did  the  Bean 
prove  impressionable  ?  " 

"  She  will  meet  me  clandestinely  at  the  pines 
to-morrow,"  flashed  Dick  through  her  white  teeth, 
her  eyes  gleaming  dark  with  merriment  at  Da- 
kotah. 

Dakotah  struggled  desperately  with  her  emo 
tions  as  she  put  the  brown  wig  and  moustache  in 
her  pocket,  and  assisted  Dick  in  putting  on  her 


EXPELLED.  185 

gown.  "  Are  we  sinful,  my  darling  ?  "  said  she. 
"  But  she  was  so  sly  and  cruel." 

"  I  love  it  !  "  cried  Dick,  absently,  in  her  en 
thusiasm  ;  "  I  love  to  act  anything !  It  comes 
to  me  just  what  to  say,  and  it  comes  to  me  just 
what  to  do,  but  I  wish,  oh,  Dakotah,  I  wish " 

"Wish  what,  dearest  Towhead  ?" 

"  I  just  wish  I'd  gone  for  Miss  Calvin,  instead." 

"  Hush  !  "  screamed  Dakotah  West. 

Dakotah  West  watched  from  a  nook  among  the 
shadowy  pines  the  meeting  of  Miss  Bean  with 
Reginald  De  Monterey  on  the  morrow.  Dakotah 
marvelled  solemnly  at  the  strange  self-abandon 
ment  of  Dick's  manner,  at  the  inspired  harmony  of 
all  her  actions,  the  fire  and  freedom  and  grace.  "  She 
is  a  natural-born  artist,"  whispered  Dakotah  to  her 
self,  and  dropped  her  fan,  wondering  more  and 
more,  and  drank  in  the  proceedings,  open-mouthed. 

But  when,  invited  by  him  to  a  sylvan  seat,  Miss 
Bean's  head  at  last  fell  gently  over  and  rested 
against  Reginald  De  Monterey's  bosom,  the  situa 
tion  was  too  much  for  Dakotah  West.  Her  in 
ward  appreciation  of  the  scene  escaped  her  in  a 
confused  but  rapturous  giggle,  which  crept  through 
the  gloomy  solitude  of  the  pines  and  smote  upon 
the  ears  of  the  amorous  couple. 


1 86  TOW  HE  AD. 

"  We  are  discovered  !  "  cried  Miss  Bean,  as  she 
sprang  to  her  feet  ;  and,  casting  one  wild,  appre 
hensive  glance  about  her,  she  fled  from  the  place 
like  a  frightened  doe. 

"  It  was  /  who  discovered  you  in  the  woods," 
said  Dakotah  West,  overtaking  the  agonized  Miss 
Bean  in  the  halls  of  Mt.  Grimrood.  "  Do  not  be 
frightened ;  your  secret  is  known  only  to  me  and 
my  friend  Dick  Bodurtha,  and  is  perfectly  safe." 

A  wretched  compunction  filled  Miss  Bean's 
breast.  "  There  might  have  been,"  she  said,  "  in 
your  own  case,  when  I  discovered  you,  the  other 
day,  palliating  circumstances  which, " 

"  You  gave  us  up  to  headquarters  immediately, 
of  course  ?  "  said  Dakotah. 

"  I  considered  it  my  duty  at  the  time.  Possibly 
not  understanding,  I " 

"  It  is  all  right,"  said  Dakotah  West.  "  We've 
got  the  screw  on  you,  you  little  fool,  but  we  don't 
care  to  use  it.  Your  secret  is  perfectly  safe." 

Miss  Bean  winced.  Whether  from  that  miserable 
compunction  or  because  she  doubted  so  much 
magnanimity  on  the  part  of  the  two  girls,  she  took 
pains  to  give  out,  that  possibly  —  nay,  that  she  was 
convinced  that  she  had  made  a  mistake  in  sup- 


EXPELLED.  187 

posing  the  two  young  ladies  whom  she  had 
recently  discovered  driving  with  a  man,  to  be 
pupils  of  Mt.  Grimrood  Seminary.  It  could  not 
be,  however,  but  that  Dick  and  Dakotah's  fate  was 
sealed.  It  was  written  on  the  face  of  the  inexor 
able  Miss  Calvin  ;  and  Miss  Bean  was  secretly 
glad. 

It  was  the  last  time  that  Dick  and  Dakotah 
were  ever  to  sit  at  devotions  in  the  seminary  hall, 
though  the  grand  denouement  came,  indeed,  from 
an  unexpected  source.  Dick  gazed  up  dreamily  at 
Miss  Calvin,  as  she  sat  reading  the  chapter,  on  the 
throne  ;  and,  to  her  young  imagination,  that  lifted 
face  was  as  the  stone  upon  which  Moses  had  writ 
ten  the  commandments  long  ago  ;  the  great  black 
eyes  seemed  pitiless.  Suddenly,  Dick  became 
aware  that  this  solemn  exercise  was  closed,  and 
she  waited  indifferently  through  the  long  moment 
of  breathless  suspense  which  she  had  learned  to 
know  so  well. 

•'  Young  ladies,"  then  said  the  grave  and  awful 
voice  of  Miss  Calvin,  on  the  throne.  "  Young 
ladies  ;  that  we  may  with  the  greater  ease  and 
quietness  walk  about  these  halls,  in  mutual  consid 
eration  for  you  and  for  each  other,  the  teachers  of 


1 88  TOWHEAD. 

Mount  Grimrood  Seminary  are  accustomed  to  wear 
soft  and  unsqueaking  shoes. 

"But  it  appears,  young  ladies,  that  there  are 
some  of  your  number  whose  deeds  are  such  that 
they  wish  to  be  informed  of  our  approach  !  They 
take  no  pleasure  in  being  surprised  by  a  visit  from 
their  faithful  teachers,  but  would  even  wish  to 
reinforce  themselves  against  the  possibility  of  such 
an  accident ! 

"  This  morning,  young  ladies,  there  were  found, 
forcibly  implanted  in  the  soles  of  our  dear  Miss 
Ratting's  shoes,  a  quantity  of  nails, — young 
ladies,  —  of  heavy  and  resounding  nails  ! 

"  I  will  not  stop,  young  ladies,  to  remark  upon 
the  character  of  this  deed  or  its  inevitable  con 
sequences.  It  is  sufficient  to  ask  the  perpetrators, 
here  in  the  presence  of  their  school-mates  and 
teachers,  to  rise." 

Dick  alone  knew  the  secret  of  the  nails.  Twice 
had  she  discovered  Miss  Ratting,  after  a  noiseless 
approach,  listening  surreptitiously  at  her  door,  and, 
in  putting  the  nails  in  the  soles  of  her  shoes,  she  had 
taken  such  precautions  as  would  have  been  deemed 
only  just  and  expedient  by  all  the  spirits  of  Dyms- 
bury  Park.  And  now,  for  the  last  time,  in  the 


EXPELLED.  1 89 

midst  of  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  pupils,  and 
before  the  forty  teachers  on  the  throne,  Dick  arose. 
But  as  she  did  so,  another  form  was  seen  stately  to 
rise  in  a  distant  part  of  the  hall  — a  presence  that 
stood  sweetly,  though  arduously  fanning  itself  — 
the  magnificent  Dakotah  West.  Across  the  three 
hundred  and  sixty  heads  Dick  shot  a  glance  of 
glowing  love  and  admiration  and  rebuke,  and 
opened  her  lips  to  speak,  but  Dakotah  made  an 
unmistakable,  earnest  sign  of  entreaty. 

"Young  ladies,"  said  Miss  Calvin  to  those  two 
marked  figures;  "your  relations  as  pupils  of  Mount 
Grimrood  Seminary  are  at  an  end.  Your  friends 
have  been  written  to,  and  will  duly  inform  us 
whither  to  send  you  next.  Meantime,  you  may 
remain  with  us  as  our  dishonored,  though  com 
passionated  guests." 

But  Dick  and  Dakotah  availed  themselves  of 
this  last  privilege  for  a  period  of  time  singularly 
brief.  Through  Neddie  Farmer,  procured  to  their 
assistance  with  wagon  and  ropes,  the  night  wit 
nessed  the  descent  of  their  baggage  and  their  own 
safe  escape,  and  morning  saw  Dakotah  West  jour 
neying  happily  westward,  through  freer  currents 
of  air,  and  my  Dick,  all  daring  and  alone,  en  route 
for  Dymsbury  Park. 


190  TOWHEAD. 

Kxcelluna  sat  in  the  porch  of  the  old  house  at 
Dymsbury  Park  ;  the  sun  and  wind  were  playing 
freely  with  her  grizzled  locks,  but  Excelluna's  face 
was  placid, — she  was  making  flowers.  At  one 
hand  she  had  a  box  of  tinted  paper,  some  shears 
and  glue.  Through  her  "  fur-offs  "  she  caught  the 
inspiration,  and  through  her  "  nigh-tos  "  she  con 
structed  the  flowers.  "  Some  have  said  to  me," 
Excelluna  murmured  pensively  to  herself,  "that 
there  be  not  no  sech  flowers  as  these  that  I  am 
makin'.  '  Where  be  they  ? '  says  they  ;  and  they 
have  sometimes  laughed  "  -Excelluna's  tone  was 
even  compassionate  —  "'where  be  they?'  says 
they.  '  We  have  never  seen  no  sech  flowers  ! ' 
But"  — and  here  Excelluna  adjusted  her  fur- 
offs  and  took  a  long,  rapturous  gaze  into  the 
Elysian  fields  —  "there  air,  maybe,  more  flowers 
than  is  ginerally  thought  on.  7,"  said  Excelluna 
"  have  seen  sech  flowers"  and  she  replaced  her 
nigh-tos,  and  worked  studiously  on  a  crimson-lined 
lily  with  a  golden-green  chalice. 

But  a  dear,  familiar  step  came  down  the  walk. 
Quickly  Excelluna  put  on  her  spectacles  of  spirit 
ual  vision,  and  gazed,  and  gazed,  while  no  surprise 
came  to  her  face ;  only  the  same  quiet,  beatified 


EXPELLED.  191 

expression.  "  It  is  ever  and  a  clarlin'  one,"  said 
Excelluna  ;  but  so  had  she  seen  her  many  times 
every  day  since  that  morning  she  had  gone  away. 
When  Dick  threw  her  arms  emphatically  about  the 
old  woman's  neck,  and  called  her  "  Limy!  Dear  old 
Luny  ! " —  "  It  is,  it  is,  indeed !  Heving  be  praised  ! " 
said  Excelluna  ;  but  soon  she  touched  the  darling 
of  her  heart  softly  and  curiously  again  as  though 
it  had  been  a  blessed  ghost. 

Dick  ran  wildly  about  the  house  and  farm.  Her 
horse,  her  boat,  the  young  Pinchons,  all  belong 
ing  to  Dymsbury  Park,  she  embraced  with  an 
indiscriminate  gladness.  But  there  was  just  the 
slightest  change  in  her  darling's  manner  which  set 
the  old  serving-woman  at  last  to  a  weary,  earthly 
speculation.  Dick  told  the  story  of  her  career  at 
Mount  Grimrood  with  thrilling  dash  and  effect, 
and  an  indescribable  arch  mimicry.  There  was  a 
little  inclination  to  jeer,  an  occasional  flavor  of  bit 
terness  now  in  the  sweet  laugh  ;  and  when  she 
went  to  bed  that  night  she  did  not  kneel  down  to 
say  the  prayer  Excelluna  had  taught  her.  Excel 
luna  recounted  the  lively  narrative.  Very  tranquil 
and  beautiful  Dick  looked  as  she  lay  asleep  ;  but 
Excelluna  stood  in  the  shadows,  a  deeper  care 


1 92  TOWHEAD. 

shadowed  on  her  brow,  her  finger  pressed  in  a  sad 
thoughtfulness  against  her  lips :  "  The  toning 
down,1'  slowly  said  Excelluna,  "  do  not  appear  to  be 
seek  as  was  tJwngJit  on." 

Excelluna  retired  to  her  bedroom,  and  by  the 
faint  light  of  a  candle  endeavored  to  peruse  her 
Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs  ;  but  for  once  that  dear 
chronicle  yielded  her  no  comfort.  After  another 
hour  of  distracting  restlessness  she  sought  her 
bottle  of  paregoric,  and  applied  the  extreme  tip  of 
her  finger  to  that  guileless  mixture.  "  I  know  it 
ain't  a  cure,"  said  Excelluna  ;  "  I  have  sometimes 
thought  it  was  a  help."  It  was  hardly  a  help  that 
night. 

But  sleep  came  at  last  to  that  poor  troubled 
heart ;  and  then  indeed  Excelluna  saw  a  garden  to 
which  all  the  visions  of  her  day-dreams  were  but 
as  a  hint  and  a  beginning.  And  as  she  looked, 
through  blooms  purple  and  red,  into  a  white,  white 
field,  smiling  walked  the  darling  of  her  heart. 

A  childlike  peace  had  smoothed  all  the  wrinkles 
from  Excelluna's  brow.  She  smiled  ;  a  happy 
tear  stole  down  her  cheek.  "/,"  she  murmured 
softly  in  her  sleep,  "have  seen  seek  flowers." 


PERSONAL   SUPERVISION.  1 93 


CHAPTER   XII. 

PERSONAL   SUPERVISION. 

receiving  the  news  from  Mount  Grimrood 
Seminary  Mrs.  Bodurtha  showed  a  face  al 
most  pathetic  in  its  cold  dismay.  But  when  she 
spoke  at  last  there  was  a  keen  determination  in 
her  utterance.  "I  shall  now,"  she  said,  "take  my 
niece,  for  a  time  at  least,  under  my  personal  care 
and  supervision.  I  am  sure,  even  with  my  shrink 
ing  from,  and  incapacity  for  the  task,  nothing 
worse  can  happen  than  has  happened.  Instead  of 
coming  to  me  my  sister's  child  fled  immediately 
to  Dymsbury  Park.  There  is  a  horrible  fatality 
about  that  place.  Oh,  why  did  I  ever  send  her 
there !  " 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  submitted  herself  gloriously  to 
the  waye  of  determination  and  self-sacrifice  which 
swept  over  her.  She  returned  from  her  summer 
saunterings  a  week  earlier  than  was  her  wont  — 
though  the  weather  had  grown  prematurely  chill  — 


194  TQWHEAD. 

and  established  herself  in  the  house  in  town  ready 
for  her  niece's  reception. 

Mr.  Higgins,  Dick's  guardian,  the  venerable 
Croesus,  who,  though  always  affable  and  indul 
gent,  Dick  with  a  constant  instinct  defied,  came 
to  lure  my  young  lady  from  her  wild  retreat  to  her 
aunt's  polished  abode.  Dick  at  first  flatly  refused 
to  go,  and  her  guardian  laughingly  encouraged  her 
in  this  fine  audacity,  just  as  he  had  been  used  to 
play  with  the  temper  of  the  wilful  and  engaging 
child.  He  smilingly  suggested  that,  though  she 
might  prefer  to  take  up  her  permanent  abode  at 
Dymsbury  Park,  she  would  find  it  vastly  entertain 
ing  to  spend  a  week  or  two  in  the  city.  In  the 
same  smooth,  caressing  tone,  he  further  suggested 
that  she  should  take  her  favorite  horse  with  her, 
as  she  "would  find  it  delightful  riding  in  the  park, 
attended,  of  course,  by  a  groom."  This  found  at 
once  the  mysterious  key  of  Dick's  affections  and 
pleased  her  imagination.  She  consented  to  try 
the  adventure. 

But  very  soon  after  her  arrival  at  New  York  the 
girl  was  stricken  down  with  a  long  and  feverish 
illness.  Often  then  she  moaned  for  Excelluna  ; 
but  Mrs.  Bodurtha  shuddered  at  the  name,  and  the 


PERSONAL  SUPERVISION.  195 

ancient  serving-woman  never  knew  how  near  her 
darling  came  at  that  time  to  death's  door. 

In  the  real  danger  and  suffering  of  her  illness, 
Dick  was  so  brave,  so  sweet,  that  Mrs.  Bodurtha, 
to  whom  this  was  a  strange  revelation  of  the 
girl's  character,  was  genuinely  alarmed.  She  had 
always  had  hitherto  a  certain  unexpressed  security 
in  the  feeling  that  Dick  was  too  sinful  to  die.  She 
suddenly  realized  how  precious  was  the  life  of  this 
last  branch  of  a  worthy  family,  the  young  life 
hanging  now  by  so  slender  a  thread.  She  waited, 
pale,  faithful,  anxious  in  and  about  the  sick-room, 
and  when  Dick  began  to  mend,  the  little  world 
about  her,  Mrs.  Bodurtha  included,  was  at  her  feet. 

The  days  of  my  young  lady's  recovery  were  filled 
with  every  conceivable  attention  and  indulgence. 
The  sharp-eyed  female  who  had  been  employed  to 
correct  her  manners  and  education,  was  not  re 
called,  even  when  all  the  former  elasticity  had 
come  back  to  Dick's  tread,  and  the  healthiest 
color  to  her  cheeks.  As  for  her  manners,  Dick 
could  not  help  seeing  that  they  were  now  gen 
erally  conceded  to  be,  though  sometimes  erratic, 
of  the  most  charming  and  interesting  character  ; 
and  as  for  her  education,  "The  child  shall  not  be 


196  TOWHEAD. 

confined  to  her  books  again,"  said  Mrs.  Bodurtha, 
gravely,  "for  a  long  time  to  come." 

Dick  sojourned  alternately  with  her  aunt,  and 
at  the  still  more  sumptuous  residence  of  her  guar 
dian,  on  the  avenue.  The  latter  resort  was  often 
filled  with  fashionable  guests,  who  also  made  a 
pet  of  Dick,  especially  certain  women  of  le  beau 
monde,  who  spared  no  pains  to  instruct  her  as  to 
the  full  worth  of  charms  hitherto  but  half  known 
or  appreciated,  as  well  as  how  to  apply  them  in 
the  most  striking  and  fascinating  manner. 

The  servants,  the  equipages,  the  grand  dinners, 
the  private  box  at  the  theatre,  the  novelty  and 
splendor  of  •  this  life  appealed  to  Dick's  young 
senses  and  rich  imagination.  She  threw  herself 
into  it  with  head  and  heart  as  into  a  bewitching 
play.  Her  eyes  shone  and  her  cheeks  flushed 
with  pleasure  as  she  watched  the  effect  of  new  and 
exquisite  toilets  in  the  glass.  The  little  brown 
hands  that  had  found  such  simple  delight  in  the 
pleasures  of  Dymsbury  Park  grew  white  and 
fastidious  enough.  The  shock  of  "  wanton  "  hair 
was  dressed  with  charming  effect. 

And  at  the  play,  amid  fair  scenery  and  brilliant 
lights  and  strains  of  enchanting  music,  there  was 


PERSONAL  SUPERVISION.  197 

the  panorama  of  passion  and  romance,  often  the 
laughing  triumph  of  the  worldly  sentiment,  the 
covert  sneer,  the  insidious  word.  The  fire  of 
the  gay  scene  crept  into  Dick's  brain.  She 
carried  it  into  the  restless  round  of  her  pleasure- 
seeking  life.  Very  far  off  now  grew  all  the  voices 
of  Dymsbury  Park.  Very  far  away  indeed,  was 
Excelluna,  making  her  celestial  flowers  in  the 
sunlight. 

In  a  vain  and  unscrupulous  treatment  of  the 
youth  who  paid  homage  to  her  charms,  in  a  sweet- 
tempered  indocility,  a  perfectly  self-possessed  reck 
lessness  and  hauteur,  the  unconscious  girl,  as  nat 
urally  as  though  it  had  been  a  part  of  some  former 
life  to  which  she  had  come  back  for  a  season, 
transcended  the  teachings  of  her  gay  and  worldly 
companions. 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  realized  a  new  danger.  She 
spoke  anxiously  to  Mr.  Higgins  :  "  It  is  unwise," 
said  she,  "it  is  even  scandalous,  the  license  we 
have  allowed  this  child  of  seventeen.  Of  course  her 
dangerous  illness  incapacitated  her  for  immediate 
severe  application  to  her  studies,  and  we  wished  to 
have  her  amused ;  but  she  has  taken  her  own  head, 
until,  though  very  sweet-tempered,  she  seems 


198  TOWHEAD. 

really  to  be  amenable  neither  to  God,  nor  reason, 
nor  humanity  !  Physically,  she  is  splendidly  de 
veloped  ;  but  oh,  Mr.  Higgins,  " — the  lady  gasped 
—  "she  is  growing  very  headstrong,  and  I  fear,  I 
fear  that  she  may  still  be  profoundly  ignorant  !  " 

Mr.  Higgins,  too,  was  of  the  opinion  that  a  quiet 
change  was  necessary  for  Dick.  "  Her  love  for 
the  theatre  and  her  young  flirtations  are  amusing, 
but  we  must  prevent  her  from  taking  any  impetu 
ous  step,"  he  said,  blandly;  "and  especially  in  that 
matter  of  the  theatre, — the  —  the  mother's  pre 
dilections,  you  know,  my  dear  Mrs.  Bodurtha, 
might,  in  time " 

Mr.  Higgins  tried  to  intimate  a  danger  and  to 
speak  soothingly  at  the  same  time.  Mrs.  Bodur 
tha  lifted  her  hand  cntreatingly ;  "I  know,  I 
know,"  she  sighed. 

"  She  is  still  too  young,  as  you  say,"  continued 
Mr.  Higgins,  "  to  be  devoted  wholly  to  society  ; 
still  too  young  to  consider  seriously  a  question 
which  I  shall  some  time  propose  to  her." 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  started,  but  recovered  herself 
immediately. 

"It  is  my  intention,  my  desire,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Bodurtha,"  the  guardian  went  on  with  unbroken 


PERSONAL  SUPERVISION.  199 

smoothness  and  composure  of  tone;  "to  assume 
towards  your  niece  the  duties  not  only  of  the  guar 
dian  and  quasi  father,  but  the  authority  and  privi 
leges  of  the  Jiusband  as  well.  What  say  you  ? " 
he  added,  laughing  softly.  "  My  house  is  not  an 
humble  one,  but  I  have  a  fancy  that  our  spirited 
young  lady  will  become  it  immensely." 

And  could  it  be,  could  it  be  —  Mrs.  Bodurtha 
could  not  help  musing  with  triumph  —  that  such  a 
prospect  as  this  was  already  opening  before  her 
niece  !  that,  at  seventeen,  her  hand  should  be  de 
sired  by  this  polished  possessor  of  millions,  the 
long-coveted  prize  of  a  thousand  drawing-rooms  ! 

"  While  I  have  no  doubt,  dear  Mr.  Higgins," 
she  answered  gravely,  "that  your  kind  proposal 
would  indeed  insure  the  safest  and  happiest  future 
that  could  be  for  my  niece,  still,  we  are  both  aware 
of  the  fact  that  that  young  lady  sometimes  ex 
hibits,  on  the  most  inopportune  occasions,  an 
exceedingly  perverse  and  determined  will  of  her 
own." 

"  Fortunately,  fortunately,"  responded  Mr.  Hig 
gins,  in  a  smiling  manner,  quite  undismayed ; 
"otherwise  she  would  be  extremely  uninteresting. 
I  think  I  shall  succeed.  And  meantime,  my  dear 


200  TOWHEAD. 

Mrs.  Bodurtha,  there  certainly  must  be  in  her 
case  an  entire  change  of  scene  and  companions. 
There  must,  indeed,  be  imposed  a  few  months  of 
devotion  to  quiet  and  studious  pursuits.  In  our 
desire  to  advance  her  physical  recovery  we  wholly 
let  go  the  reins  of  government,  and  under  present 
circumstances  it  is  not  easy  to  resume  them.  We 
could  hardly  ^establish  now,  under  our  personal 
direction,  an  entire  change  of  life  and  conduct,  or 
a  system  of  studious  application  for  your  niece, 
without  producing  a  misunderstanding  and  —  a  — 
a  possible  dislike  and  rebellion  on  her  part,  which 
would  be  —  a  —  a  —  particularly  undesirable.  The 
good  of  our  precious  charge  seems  to  make  it  im 
perative  that  we  should  again  be  separated  from 
her  for  a  season,  and  give  her  entirely  to  the  care 
of  other  hands." 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  lifted  her  eyes  with  veneration 
to  the  Croesus.  "  It  is  the  very  thing,"  said  she, 
"which  I  have  been  so  anxiously  contemplating." 

"  My  next  proposal,"  continued  the  suave  voice, 
"will  surprise  you.  I  propose  that  we  send  our 
charge  now,  not  to  any  of  our  fashionable  board 
ing-schools,  where  she  will  be  subjected  to  a  false 
system  of  espionage,  but  to  put  her,  just  for  a  trial, 


PERSONAL  SUPERVISION.  2OI 

mainly  on  her  own  conscience  and  mettle ;  to  give 
her,  in  short,  my  dear  Mrs.  Bodurtha,  a  term 
amidst  the  struggle  and  ambition  of  a  Western 
university  !  " 

"A  Western  university?"  palely  echoed  Mrs. 
Bodurtha. 

"  A  Western  university  !  "  firmly  but  encour 
agingly  reiterated  Mr.  Higgins.  "In  the  univer 
sity  of  '  The  Three  Lakes,'  which  I  have  largely 
endowed,  in  a  lovely  and  healthful  Western  village 
our  Miss  Bodurtha  will  be  far,  far  separated  from 
the  exciting  scenes  of  the  past  few  months  ;  posi 
tively,  my  dear  Mrs.  Bodurtha,"  exulted  the  wise 
guardian,  "positively  out  of  dreaming  distance  of 
the  theatre.  Amongst  a  struggling  and  ambitious 
body  of  young  people  she  will  recognize  her  own 
deficiencies  and  do  her  utmost  to  remedy  the  mis 
take.  I  would  propose  a  few  months  of  it,  only 
enough  to  set  the  mind  quietly  in  a  new  direction, 
and  to  —  a  —  a  —  apply  a  few  fundamental  facts 
in  —  a  —  a  —  various  branches.  And  then,  when 
she  comes  back,  she  shall  renew  her  life  here  under 
the  safe  guardianship  and  protecting  care  of  a 
mature,  but,  I  trust,  devoted  husband." 

The  soft  laugh  which  followed  this  remark  awoke 


202  TOWHEAD. 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  from  a  profound  reverie.  She  lifted 
her  head,  speaking  in  a  tone  of  solemn  conviction. 
"  I  am  perfectly  assured,"  said  she,  "  that  this  is, 
indeed,  the  best  thing  that  can  now  be  done." 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  was  taken  aback  by  the  calm, 
even  hopeful  manner  in  which  Dick  received  the 
news  of  this  new  plan  for  her  education.  Mrs. 
Bodurtha  did  not  know  that  just  as  Dick  now 
sometimes  found  the  play  dull  and  lifeless,  and 
looked  through  it  to  the  stale  end  and  wearied 
of  it,  so  this  new  life  was  in  truth  seeming  naught 
but  a  play  also  ;  a  brief  fever  and  insanity,  through 
which  the  clear  eyes  were  already  beginning  to 
gaze,  wearied,  restless  for  something,  they  knew 
not  what,  —  something  deeper  and  beyond. 

The  Western  land  was  golden  and  fair  to  Dick's 
imagination.  Mrs.  Bodurtha  was  chagrined  by 
the  cheerful  and  uncomplaining  way  in  which  her 
niece  bade  her  good-bye.  "  The  child  is  heart 
less  ! "  she  said,  bitterly,  as  she  turned  away. 
"  She  has  nothing  but  a  beautiful  body  and  a  rest 
less,  untamable  spirit.  Her  guardian  thinks  she 
may  be  subdued  ;  I  hope  to  heaven  she  may  be 
subdued  !  " 

The  guardian  accompanied  Dick  to  her  destina- 


PERSONAL  SUPERVISION.  203 

tion,  saw  her  safely  established  in  a  commodious 
room  in  the  "  ladies'  hall "  at  the  University  of 
the  Three  Lakes,  and  committed  to  the  care  of  the 
excellent  matron,  and  then,  with  some  flowery 
words  of  parting  advice  and  a  generous  bestowal 
in  the  way  of  pocket-money,  he  went  away.  Dick, 
it  is  true,  felt  no  pangs  at  his  departure  either.  This 
very  unfortunate  fortunate  girl  had  never  known 
the  real  sorrow  of  parting,  the  true,  beautiful, 
childish  anguish  of  homesickness.  But  when  the 
tea-bell  rang,  and  the  merry  girls  poured  out  into  the 
halls,  laughing,  shouting,  and  twining  their  arms 
about  each  other  in  strange  contrast  to  the  customs 
of  Mt.  Grimrood  Seminary,  as  Dick  followed  alone 
in  this  strange  land,  a  sudden,  undefined  sense  of 
want,  of  possible  injustice,  filled  her  heart  and  eyes. 
Almost  at  the  same  instant  there  fell  on  her  ears, 
in  a  fond,  familiar  voice,  a  scream  of  perfect  de 
light,  and  she  was  caught  up  in  a  rapturous  embrace. 
"  Oh,  my  dearest,  sweetest  Towhead,"  rippled  the 
sweet  voice  of  Dakotah  West  in  her  ear,  "  can  it 
be  you  ? " 


204  TOWHEAD. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

WESTWARD,     HO! 

L^ROM    an   eminence   the    university  buildings 
looked  south,  east,  and  west  upon  three  lovely 
lakes. 

On  this  broad  and  commanding  height  Dakotah 
West  found  the  air  sufficient  to  her  needs.  From 
the  list  of  her  various  splendid  appointments  her 
fan  had  now  entirely  disappeared,  while  she  drank 
in  the  divine  nectar  with  such  deep  and  joyous 
inspirations  as  only  those  who  have  suffered  from 
aerial  privation  can  truly  know  and  appreciate. 

"When  papa  heard  about  the  air  East,  — 
that  there  wasn't  any,  you  know—  "  she  cheerfully 
explained  to  Dick ;  "  he  gave  up  the  cnltnring 
business  and  said  he  would  send  me  now  where  I 
would  learn  something.  All  the  same,  I  know 
papa's  design  is  to  have  me  forget  Harry  Fortune ; 
but  I  told  him  it  wouldn't  be  of  any  use.  Even  if  I 
should  try,"  said  Dakotah  West,  lifting  her  brave 


WESTWARD,  HO!  205 

and  tender  eyes  to  Dick ;  "  how  could  I  ever  forget 
my  poor,  clear,  struggling  boy  ?  " 

Dick  still  admired  Dakotah,  and  was  fond  of  her, 
and  had  the  fullest  faith  in  her  sincerity,  but  she 
was  not  affected  as  she  had  once  been  by  this  sim 
ple  exhibition  of  sentiment.  The  young  girl  gave 
a  very  breezy,  incredulous  laugh.  "  I  think  it  is 
easier  to  forget  people  than  to  love  them,"  she 
said. 

"  You  have  got  some  very  vile  ideas  from  some 
where,  then,"  exclaimed  Dakotah  West,  sadly, 
though  with  considerable  warmth. 

"  I'd  rather  have  those  than  silly  ones,"  answered 
Dick. 

Dakotah,  thoroughly  hurt,  rose  and  went  out. 
In  less  than  an  hour  she  returned,  and,  with  tears 
in  her  handsome  eyes,  begged  Dick's  pardon. 
Dick  was  used  to  such  a  result  in  the  various  un 
important  controversies  in  which  she  indulged, 
and  readily  pardoned  Dakotah. 

"  Only  I  dont  like  silly  talk,"  said  she,  with  a 
slight  shrug  of  the  shoulders. 

Dakotah  quietly  bit  her  lips.  The  honest  girl's 
thoughts  turned  to  something  else.  She  sighed. 
"How  about  your  lessons,  Dick?"  said  she.  "I'm 


206  TOWHEAD. 

taking  an  elective  course,  only  just  such  branches 
as  you  please,  you  know." 

"  I  will  do  that  way,  too,"  said  Dick,  with  pleas 
ing  animation. 

"/like  it,"  said  Dakotah  West,  with  whom  the 
easy  application  of  written  lore  had  never  been, 
indeed,  a  conspicuous  trait. 

It  seemed  to  be  an  occasion  of  unusual  serious 
ness  to  the  mind  of  the  good-natured  Dakotah. 
She  spoke  with  a  grave,  engaging  frankness.  "  I 
cant  learn,  Dick,"  she  said.  "  It  has  been  a 
source  of  great  mortification  to  me,  and  I've  tried 
again  and  again.  I  love  to  read.  I  love  to  observe. 
Thousands  of  things  that  I  don't  try  to  remember 
will  stay  by  me  constantly  and  forever.  But  the 
moment  I  sit  down  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of 
committing  anything  to  my  memory,  my  mind  be 
comes  a  perfect  blank,  a  perfect  dim,  boundless, 
soundless  blank.  Can  you  learn  easily,  Dick?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Dick,  vaguely. 

"You  might  try  it,  some  time,"  gravely  sug 
gested  Dakotah,  "and  see." 

Dick's  expression  still  continuing  vague,  Da 
kotah  resumed  :  — 

"  I've  taken  up  Botany  this  term,  because  —  be- 


WESTWARD,   HO!  2O/ 

cause  I'm  so  used  to  it,  for  one  thing,  though  there 
isn't  really  any  need  of  it  here.  But  it's  in  a  beau 
tiful  recitation-room  up  on  the  fourth  floor  of  the 
college  building,  where  the  view  of  the  lakes  is  per 
fectly  sublime.  The  class  is  a  perfect  hubbub  of 
fun.  I  can't  describe  it  to  you  ;  but  the  teacher  is 
a  boyish-looking,  conceited  little  sprig,  and  the  fel 
lows  cut  up  awfully.  There  are  about  seventy  girls 
and  boys  in  the  class.  I  sit  in  the  back  row,  and 
the  teacher  doesn't  often  have  time  in  the  recita 
tion-hour  to  get  so  far  with  a  question.  I  don't 
think  I've  been  asked  a  question  in  the  Botany 
class  for  two  weeks,"  said  Dakotah,  with  calm  and 
serious  satisfaction. 

"  I  shall  take  up  Botany  again,"  said  Dick,  em 
phatically. 

"  And  then,"  continued  Dakotah  West,  "  I've 
taken  up  Anglo-Saxon  besides," — Dakotah 
waited  a  moment,  blushingly  to  observe  what 
effect  this  pretentious  and  pedantic-sounding  state 
ment  had  upon  Dick.  She  was  encouraged  by 
Dick's  manner  to  proceed,  —  "  It's  the  language,  you 
know,  dearest  Towhead,  that  the  old  Anglo-Saxons 
used  to  converse  to  each  other  in  —  and  it's  simply 
horrible ;  but  the  text-book  is  small,  and  easy  to 


208  TOW  HE  AD. 

carry  about ;  and  the  recitation  comes  righjt  after 
Botany,  at  the  second  hour  in  the  morning,  which 
gives  you  all  the  rest  of  the  clay  for  recreation 
unbroken  ;  and  there  are  some  of  the  nicest  fellows 
in  the  university  in  the  class ;  though  I  don't 
accept  serious  attentions  from  any  one  but  Harry," 
—  Dakotah  paused  again,  with  bright  cheeks, 
gazing  very  directly  and  bravely  at  Dick,  —  "  but  I 
have  some  good  friends  among  the  boys." 

"  But  what  do  you  do  about  learning  that  horrid 
lesson,  you  know  ?  "  inquired  Dick. 

"  Oh,"  said  Dakotah,  "  Professor  Dane  is  per 
fectly  splendid.  He's  indifferent  to  everything 
but  his  work.  He  has  worked  his  way  up  from 
poverty,  they  say,  and  some  terrible  family  misfor 
tune,  I  don't  know  what,  and  he's  only  thirty,  and 
he's  very  distinguished  already,  and  he's  tall  and 
stoops  a  little,  and  his  hair  is  black  and  beginning 
to  turn,  and  his  eyes  are  perfectly  killing." 

"  But  how  do  you  manage  about  the  lesson, 
Dakotah  ? " 

"  Certainly,  dear.  Professor  Dane  is  so  high- 
minded  and  dignified,  you  know,  he  isn't  forever 
on  the  lookout  to  catch  somebody  in  a  foolish  little 
trick,"  said  Dakotah,  with  singularly  honest  enthu- 


WESTWARD,  HO!  209 

siasm.  •  "  In  class,  he  invariably  begins  with  Dan 
Gaylord,  and  takes  us  right  up,  in  regular  rotation. 
I  can  guess  to  a  bee-line  just  what  questions  are 
coming  to  me  next  day ;  and,  —  if  you  sit  next 
to  me,  on  the  right  hand  side,  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
class  —  by  glancing  in  my  book,  I  can  tell  you, 
to  a  die,  just  what  question  will  come  to  you  to 
morrow." 

In  this  one  unfortunate  respect,  the  noble  and 
sincere  Dakotah  West  was  without  a  conscience. 
But,  if  she  had  had  any  doubt  of  Dick's  continued 
affection,  it  was  now  dismissed  by  the  manner  in 
which  that  young  lady  arose  and  embraced  her. 

"/  shall  take  up  Anglo-Saxon,"  said  Dick. 
"And  I'll  sit  next  to  you,  Dakotah,  on  the  right 
hand  side." 

So  Dick's  elective  course  at  the  University  of 
the  Three  Lakes  was  made  to  consist  of  Botany 
and  Anglo-Saxon.  On  the  following  day  she  went 
up  with  Dakotah  to  the  charming  recitation-room, 
on  the  fourth  floor  of  the  rotunda.  There,  these 
two  beautiful  and  lamentably  ignorant  creatures 
seated  themselves  modestly  by  the  rear  windows, 
through  which  they  gazed  out  contented  upon  the 
enchanting  view,  frequently  conversing  with  each 


210  TOW  HE  AD. 

other  in  subdued  tones  ;  or  they  sought  cut  dili 
gently,  amidst  a  maze  of  matter,  the  questions  which 
should  come  to  them  later  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
class  ;  or  made  plans  for  that  large  part  of  the 
day  which  should  be  unbroken  by  recitations  ;  or 
watched  with  cheerful  interest  the  progress  of 
immediate  events,  as  when  a  low  murmur  of 
amusement  ran  through  the  room,  while  the 
teacher  of  Botany  stood  demonstrating  a  floral 
design  on  the  blackboard  with  an  ace  or  a  knave 
of  some  color  pinned  fantastically  to  his  coat-tails. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  class  was  composed  of  a 
rather  more  select  and  enlightened  company,  but 
through  the  midst  of  this  mental  respectability, 
Dick  and  Dakotah,  exercising  a  caution  worthy  of 
a  far  better  cause,  steered  their  dark  craft  with 
phenomenal  success. 

Professor  Dane  was  indeed  surprised  that  Dick, 
a  new  pupil,  unacquainted  with  Anglo-Saxon, 
should  show  such  sudden  aptness  in  appropriating 
that  dead  language.  At  her  fluent  recitation  his 
kind,  dark  eyes  rested  upon  her  with  pleasure  and 
approval.  That  noble,  unsuspecting  look  set  Dick's 
wild  and  sinful,  but  not  utterly  depraved  nature,  in 
a  tumult.  A  longing,  something  of  the  old  Dyms- 


WESTWARD,   HO!  211 

bury  Park  impulse,  came  over  her  then  and  there 
to  declare  fearlessly  that  the  recitation  was  an 
unscrupulous  fraud  ;  but  the  sudden  shame  died  out, 
and  the  easy,  reckless  good  nature  came  in. 

A  pair  of  large  green  eyes,  in  a  head  that 
reclined  comfortably  against  the  wall  at  one  end  of 
the  class  semi-circle,  which  eyes  had  been  con 
stantly  observing  Dick,  noted  the  signs  of  this 
brief  spiritual  struggle  with  a  smile. 

A  little  note  found  its  way  down  the  line  :  — 

"  DEAR  Miss  WEST  :  — 

"  Please  introduce  me  to  jour  friend,  and  oblige, 

"Yours,  etc.,  D.  GAYLORD." 

"  He  comes  from  our  place,  and  it's  a  splendid 
family,  and  he's  the  richest  boy  in  school,  and  his 
father  allows  him  to  keep  two  horses  here,  and  he 
has  a  sail-boat  all  his  own,"  Dakotah  rapidly 
whispered. 

It  was  the  enumeration  of  his  last  two  excellent 
qualities  that  gave  Dick's  heart  a  sense  of  kindly 
emotion  towards  Daniel  Gaylord.  "  Are  they  nice 
horses  ?  "  she  whispered  to  Dakotah. 

"Awfully  fast  !  "  breathed  Dakotah,  in  return. 

While  Professor  Dane  earnestly  explained  to  his 
class  the  derivation  of  a  single  Anglo-Saxon  word, 


212  TOW  HE  AD. 

Mr.  Daniel  Gaylord  had  obtained  a  polite  introduc 
tion,  by  all  the  paraphernalia  of  letter,  to  Miss  Dick 
Boclurtha,  and  the  two  had  exchanged,  across  the 
room,  a  smiling  and  conventional  nod  of  recog 
nition. 

The  professor  having  explained  another  word, 
during  which  the  acquaintance  had  full  time  to 
ripen  and  mature,  another  note  found  its  way 
down  the  line  :  — 

"DEAR    MlSS    BODVRTIIA  : 

"  May  I  have  the  pleasure  of  your  company,  drive  and  sail, 
this  P.M.?  South  gate,  university  grounds,  2.30.  Shall  be 
highly  delighted  and  flattered.  An  immediate  reply  will 
greatly  oblige, 

"Yours,  etc.,  D.  GAYLORD." 

Dick  waited  until  the  recitation-hour  was  nearly 
through,  without  looking  at  Gaylord,  though  quite 
conscious  of  the  fact  that  those  unblinking  green 
orbs  had  not  turned  meantime  from  their  contem 
plation  of  her  face.  Then  she  turned  her  own  beau 
tiful,  laughing  eyes  to  his  for  an  instant,  with  a 
dainty  nod  of  acceptance.  The  green  eyes  swal 
lowed  that  pleasing  glance  with  a  gleam  of  gratifi 
cation,  and  then  returned  to  their  glaring  unmiti 
gated  stare. 

"  He's    odd,"    Dakotah    whispered,    "  but    he's 


WESTWARD,   HO!  213 

solid.  He's  literally  struck  with  you.  He  hasn't 
lifted  his  eyes  from  your  face  !  " 

Dakotah  was  much  impressed  by  the  philosoph 
ical  manner  in  which  Dick  recognized  so  important 
a  conquest. 

At  the  close  of  the  hour,  and  the  dismissal  of 
the  class,  a  few  serious-minded  pupils  gathered 
about  the  professor's  chair  with  their  text-books 
and  various  unanswered  questions.  Chancing  to 
glance  up  from  conversation  with  these,  as  Dick 
passed  out  with  the  rest,  Professor  Dane's  eyes  fell 
upon  the  new  pupil,  and  the  same  look  of  kindly 
encouragement  and  approval  he  had  given  her 
before  rested  on  her  for  an  instant.  Instantly  the 
glow  of  angry  shame  sprang  up  again  in  Dick's  heart, 
and  in  the  childish  unreasoning  of  the  moment 
she  met  the  good  professor's  accidental  glance 
with  a  flash  of  live  defiance  and  resentment.  The 
professor  turned  to  his  questioners  with  a  bewil 
dered  air.  The  incident  slipped  temporarily  from 
his  mind.  Afterwards,  when  it  occurred  to  him, 
amidst  a  host  of  graver  thoughts  as  he  sat  alone,  he 
was  constrained  to  murmur  absently,  that  "that 
was  a  very  singular,  incomprehensible  girl."  But 
Dick  recovered  from  her  warmth  to  endure  the 


214  TOW  HE  AD. 

still  deeper  sting  of  feeling  that  she  had  made  her 
self  ridiculous,  and  with  charming  consistency  she 
was  still  inclined  to  lay  the  fault  at  the  door  of  the 
unconscious  Professor  Dane ;  inasmuch,  at  least, 
as  he  had  suddenly  become  the  object  of  her 
righteous  aversion  and  dislike.  Dick  ran  down 
the  stairs,  into  the  "  cloak-room,"  without  waiting 
for  Dakotah  West,  and  now  indeed  occasion  was 
quick  to  minister  to  her  wounded  vanity. 

"  Let  me  carry  your  books,  Miss  Bodurtha." 
It  was  the  voice  of  a  youth  who  stood  waiting 
at  the  door,  the  one  youth  whom  Dick  had  secretly 
admired  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  class,  whose  hair  had 
a  wilful  part,  whose  eyes  seemed  at  once  clear 
with  the  clew  of  childhood  and  melting  with  ex 
pression,  and  whose  red  lips  were  petulantly 
curved. 

"/  am  not  rich,  Miss  Bodurtha,"  he  said,  as 
Dick  hesitated  ;  "/have  no  horses,  /  have  no  sail 
boat," —  the  pleading  eyes  seemed  to  melt  in 
Dick's  face,  the  red  lips  seemed  actually  to 
quiver  —  Dick  held  out  her  books  without  a  word, 
save  for  a  low,  compassionate  "Thank  you." 

The  conversation  of  the  two  as  they  walked  on 
together  was  as  naive  as  possibly  could  be.  In- 


WESTWARD,   HO!  21$ 

deed  the  brave  youth  seemed  to  Dick  as  a  com 
panion-cherub,  whom  she  had  known  and  left 
somewhere  on  childhood's  shores  and  now  come 
back  to  find  in  a  fuller  guileless  growth.  The  full- 
grown  cherub's  garments  sustained  him  in  his 
declaration  of  poverty  ;  notwithstanding  which,  he 
had  an  air  of  superior  worth  and  could  not  restrain 
even  a  slight  swagger  in  his  gait.  "  I  heard  your 
name,  in  class,"  said  he,  "and  I  shall  never  forget 
it.  It  is  Bodurtha." 

"  Well,  I  remembered  yours,"  Dick  confessed. 
"  It  is  Furnival." 

"Michael  Furnival,"  replied  the  youth,  "and 
I  am  of  Irish  descent.  They  call  me  Furnival, 
simply." 

Dick  was  moved  to  ask  a  simple  question,  very 
strange  to  her  lips.  "  Are  you  an  orphan  ?  "  she 
said. 

"  I  am,"  replied  Furnival,  with  a  deeply  pathetic 
look  in  his  expressive  eyes;  "and  so  are  you,"  he 
added,  earnestly  regarding  Dick. 

"  Yes,"  said  Dick,  "  I  am."  And  if  Furnival 
had  then  given  her  his  hand  to  swing  in  silent 
sympathy,  as  they  went  down  the  walk  together,  it 
would  have  seemed  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 
world. 


2l6  TOWHEAD. 

"  Do  you  learn  all  of  your  lesson  ? "  Dick  pres 
ently  asked. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Furnival ;  "it  is  nothing  for  me 
to  learn.  Take  this  book,  please.  It  is  a  new 
study  I'm  going  to  take  up.  I've  never  looked 
into  it.  Now  turn  to  any  page  and  read  a  para 
graph.  Close  the  book  and  hear  me  repeat  it  after 
you." 

Dick  read  a  tolerably  long  paragraph  and  closed 
the  book.  Quick  as  thought  the  unattractive  and 
prosaical  utterances  of  the  text-book  fell,  word  for 
word,  from  the  ruby  lips  of  Michael  Furnival. 
Dick  read  a  longer  paragraph.  It  was  repeated 
with  an  equally  astonishing  glibness.  Dick 
thought  of  Dakotah's  despair  under  the  circum 
stances.  A  gleam  of  superior  amusement  shone 
in  Furnival's  eyes. 

"  I  presume  I  could  do  it  if  I  should  try,"  said 
Dick. 

"Wouldn't  you  like  to  try  ?"  said  Furnival. 

"  No,"  said  Dick,  with  dignity.  "  I  don't  care 
to." 

"  I  took  all  the  prizes  in  the  Kirkville  high  school," 
Furnival  continued,  ingenuously.  "  Some  of  the  la 
dies  of  the  Baptist  society  came  in  to  examinations, 


WESTWARD,  HO!  217 

and  they  thought  it  was  a  pity  I  should  not  have 
an  academical  education.  I  hadn't  a  cent  of  my 
own,  but  they  insisted  on  sending  me  to  college 
themselves.  I've  only  been  here  two  years,  and  I 
have  to  take  up  some  of  the  senior  studies  already 
to  kill  time.  Then  they  expect  to  send  me  to  a  the 
ological  school.  They  want  me  to  be  a  minister." 

"  What  sort  of  a  minister  ? "  said  Dick,  uncon 
sciously  admitting  a  little  awe  into  her  conversa 
tion. 

"  Oh,  a  Baptist,  of  course  !  "  said  Furnival,  with 
a  slight  blush. 

They  had  reached  the  ladies'  hall,  and  Furnival 
handed  Dick  her  books,  and  lifted  his  hat.  "  Yes, 
7  am  a  pensioner  of  charity,"  said  the  soft,  be 
seeching  eyes.  "  /  have  no  horses.  /  have  no  sail 
boat.  Farewell,  beautiful  girl,  whom  I  admire.  Am 
I  not  indeed  unfortunate  ?  Farewell !  "  Through 
this  deliberate  and  eloquent  speech  the  lips  uttered 
not  a  word. 

But  as  the  shabbily-dressed,  incipient  Baptist 
minister  disappeared  down  the  walk,  still  comport 
ing  himself,  in  the  midst  of  dark  misfortune,  with 
his  airy,  irrepressible  swagger,  Dick  watched  him 
admiringly,  and  a  glow  of  romantic  earnestness 


218  TOWHEAD. 

triumphed  in  her  breast.  "  Perhaps  you  are  poor 
and  being  educated  on  charity !  and  perhaps  you 
haven't  any  boats  or  horses  !  "  said  Dick  to  her 
self  ;  "and  perhaps  I  couldn't  ever  care  for  any 
body  !  and  perhaps,  some  time  —  you  need  not  be 
a  horrid  Baptist  minister,  after  all  !  " 

Dick  ate  her  dinner,  dressed,  resumed  her  gay 
and  worldly  habit  of  soul  as  well,  and  went  to  the 
"south  gate  "  to  meet  Daniel  Gaylord. 

The  custom  of  making  appointments  at  the 
south  gate  was  an  established  one  at  the  Uni 
versity  of  the  Three  Lakes,  and  was  really  done 
in  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  the  excellent 
matron  of  the  Ladies'  Hall,  whom,  amiable  and 
beloved  by  all  as  she  was,  it  seemed  a  pity  to 
harass  with  so  many  little  questions  of  an  unim 
portant  social  nature.  A  front  gate  permission, 
when  asked  for,  was  readily  obtained,  but  in  view 
of  a  considerable  number  of  engagements  and 
acquaintances,  matters  were  greatly  facilitated  by 
taking  an  innocent  walk  to  this  retired  part  of  the 
university  grounds,  and  there  assuming  the  cheer 
ful  accompaniment  of  a  beau. 

A  dulcet-speaking  couple  were  already  walking 
off,  arm-in-arm,  as  Dick  approached,  and  Gaylord 


WESTWARD,   HO!  219 

was  waiting  with  a  light  buggy  and  a  handsome 
pair  of  bays. 

Dick  found  Gaylord  quite  as  unconventional  and 
more  abrupt  than  Michael  Furnival,  and  wondered 
if  it  was  the  usual  interesting  habit  of  the  Western 
youths. 

Gaylord's  genius  seemed  to  lie  in  doing  one 
thing  at  a  time  with  the  greatest  possible  intensity 
and  dispatch.  His  intention  now  evidently  was  to 
spurn  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  with  his 
chariot-wheels.  Even  Dick's  wild  love  of  motion 
was  gratified.  She  knew  that  she  had  never 
driven  so  fast  in  her  life  before.  Gaylord  sat  with 
his  feet  braced  against  the  dash,  holding  the  lines 
tightly  in  both  hands,  his  attention  fixed,  earnest 
and  alert,  upon  his  flying  steeds.  Woods,  fences, 
houses,  hills  swept  by  as  in  a  confused  dream. 

"  Stop  !  for  Heaven's  sake  !  "  cried  Dick,  at  last, 
in  clear  wonder  and  indignation,  "  I  can't  catch  my 
breath." 

Gaylord  pulled  in  his  horses  with  a  satisfied 
smile.  "They're  a  pair  !  "  said  he,  and  he  tenderly 
wiped  a  fleck  of  foam  from  the  neck  of  one  of 
them  with  his  whip. 

Dick  caught  her  breath  and  then  thought  she 


220  TOWHEAD. 

would  like  to  go  fast  again.  She  spoke  eloquently 
of  the  horses.  "  Do  you  like  college,  Mr.  Gay- 
lord  ?"  she  said,  after  a  while,  to  the  silent  Jehu. 

"No,"  said  Gaylord,  "I  like  business."  But  he 
did  not  for  an  instant  pause  nor  look  up  from  his 
fond  and  admiring  contemplation  of  his  horses. 

Piqued,  Dick  leaned  back  in  a  retaliative  silence. 
Gaylord  was  as  unconscious  of  the  retribution 
intended  as  he  was  of  Dick's  displeasure.  But  at 
length  he  spoke  :  — 

"  Miss  West  is  a  nice  girl." 

"What  ?  I  beg  pardon,"  said  Dick,  quite  coolly 
and  lazily,  "my  thoughts  have  been  wandering." 

"  Miss  West  is  a  nice  girl,"  Gaylord  pleasantly 
responded. 

Dick  glanced  curiously  at  her  strange  and  preoc 
cupied  companion,  and  her  face  broke  up  into  smiles 
in  spite  of  her.  "Why,  yes  !  She's  the  nicest  girl  I 
ever  knew,"  said  Dick. 

"Well,  she's  good  and  substantial,  you  know," 
continued  Gaylord,  rapidly.  "There's  nothing  of 
the  flirt  about  her.  When  she  first  came  to  the 
university  I  paid  her  some  attentions.  I  took  her 
to  drive.  She  let  me  know,  first  thing,  in  an  easy, 
incidental  sort  of  way,  that  she  was  engaged. 


WESTWARD,   HO.'  221 

She's  a  special  friend  of  mine,  and  frequently  drives 
with  me  now.  Are  yon  engaged?"  said  Gaylord, 
all  in  the  same  direct  and  candid  utterance,  and 
getting  up  speed  again  with  his  horses. 

"  Dick  gasped  audibly.  "Pardon  me,"  said  she; 
"  my  emotions  overcame  me.  No,  Mr.  Gaylord. 
my  unplighted  affections  are  still  wandering 
about,  all  ready  to  light  on  some  hapless  object." 

Gaylord  hardly  divined  the  spirit  of  this  wickedly 
audacious  speech.  "  I  guess  that  isn't  anybody's 
fault  but  yours,"  the  honest  youth  said,  gallantly, 

"Thank  you,"  murmured  Dick.  "Your  kind 
ness  is  not  wasted  upon  an  unfeeling  heart." 

"  Oh,  well,"  said  Gaylord,  tightening  his  grip  on 
the  reins  and  bracing  himself  still  more  firmly 
against  the  dash,  "  You're  young  !  But  we've  all 
got  to  come  to  it — or,  that  is,  pretty  much  all  of 
us  —  and  it's  a  good  thing,  too  !  " 

The  wind  took  the  words  from  between  his 
teeth.  Again,  trees,  fences,  houses,  all  wayside 
objects  appeared  to  swim  before  the  flying  pair 
in  giddy  confusion.  Conversation  ceased. 

When  Gaylord  stopped  at  "  Lake  Squall,"  where 
his  boat  was,  the  university  buildings  were  visible 
on  a  distant  eminence.  Gaylord  secured  his  horses 


TOWHEAD. 

and  hoisted  his  sails.  All  his  motions  were  silent, 
amiable,  swift.  He  was  pleased  to  find  a  stirring 
breeze  on  the  lake.  As  rapidly  as  they  had  before 
sped  over  the  ground  they  now  galloped  over  the 
crested  waves.  The  sailing  was  a  new  experience 
for  Dick.  It  exalted  her  to  an  earthly  paradise. 
How  broad  the  troubled  lake!  how  green  and 
soundless  its  depths  !  how  wild  its  hurrying  waves  ! 
She  learned  how  to  steer  the  light  craft.  She 
learned  where  the  dangers  were.  Her  eyes  grew 
solemn  and  large,  her  lips  parted,  the  color  deep 
ened  in  her  cheeks,  and  the  wind  blew  her  sweet 
hair  in  her  face.  It  was  a  pure,  childlike,  natural 
expression.  It  was  as  fair  a  face  as  one  could  con 
ceive  of  for  an  angel;  Gaylord  was  now  steadily 
regarding  it.  But  Dick,  looking  out,  had  become 
careless  and  unconscious  of  his  gaze. 

"Will  you  go  again  to-morrow?"  said  he,  as 
they  neared  the  end  of  the  course. 

Dick  turned  to  him  suddenly  with  enthusiasm, 
"Oh,  I  will  go  whenever  you  will  let  me!"  said 
she. 

It  was  perfectly  evident  that  it  was  not  the  pros 
pect  of  again  enjoying  Gaylord's  society  which  so 
transported  Dick.  But  Gaylord  smiled  confidently 


WESTWARD,  II O!  223 

to  himself.  "  This  is  a  sort  of  business  it  won't  do 
to  drive  too  fast,"  he  mused.  "  Girls  are  so  infer 
nal  skittish,  you've  got  to  exercise  a  reasonable 
amount  of  moderation." 

Dick  did  not  mind  the  swift  and  silent  drive 
home.  It  was  dusk  as  she  hastened  up  the  walk 
to  the  Ladies'  Hall.  Suddenly,  Michael  Furnival 
stood  in  her  path.  As  the  youth,  so  ardently 
admired  a  few  hours  ago,  stood  before  her,  Dick 
realized  with  inward  horror  and  dismay  how 
thoroughly,  how  completely  she  had  forgotten  him. 
He  moved  her  almost  to  contrition  by  the  silent 
language  of  his  eyes.  With  those  pleading  and 
pathetic  orbs  he  informed  her  that  he  knew  she 
had  been  sailing  with  the  happier  possessor  of 
horses  and  boats  ;  ay,  and  that  he  knew  she  would 
go  again.  He  then,  in  audible  speech,  spoke 
sadly  though  fluently  of  the  many  restraints  and 
misfortunes  which  embittered  his  life.  He  spoke 
touchingly  and  with  eloquence  of  the  deep  ex 
periences  of  his  soul.  It  seemed  a  topic  of  absorb 
ing  interest  to  him,  and  he  besought  Dick  to  linger 
yet  a  few  moments  at  this  dim,  affecting  hour.  So 
sublime  a  flow  of  sentiment  formed  an  interesting 
contrast  to  the  caustic  speech  of  Daniel  Gaylord. 


224  TOWHEAD. 

But,  at  an  unfortunate  moment,  Dick  realized  that 
she  was  hungry,  and  she  gave  Furnival  her  hand 
with  a  melancholy,  though  abrupt,  good-night. 

As  she  entered  the  hall,  the  good  matron,  who 
chanced  to  be  passing,  looked  at  her  with  some 
surprise.  Dick  approached  the  matron  with  a 
smile  and  pressed  into  her  hand  a  parcel  of  bon 
bons  which  Gaylord  had  precipitately  bestowed 
upon  her  at  some  moment  during  the  swift  exploits 
of  the  afternoon.  The  matron  playfully  pinched 
Dick's  cheek,  and  bade  her  be  a  good  girl  and 
passed  on.  Being  late  for  supper,  Dick  ran  down 
into  the  servants'  hall  and  appealed  to  the  sym 
pathies  of  the  cook  by  the  gift  of  a  generous  piece 
of  coin,  and  had  a  table  spread  for  her  with  great 
glory  and  eclat.  In  her  room  a  box  of  birthday 
gifts  from  aunt  and  guardian  awaited  her.  There 
too,  in  faithful  waiting,  sat  the  calm  and  beloved 
Dakotah.  Dick  surveyed  her  costly  gifts  criti 
cally  and  without  enthusiasm. 

"  Eighteen  years  old ! "  she  exclaimed,  triumph 
antly,  sitting  down  on  a  corner  of  the  bed.  "  And 
now"  she  added,  with  serious  warmth,  "  I  hope 
I  shall  occasionally  be  permitted  to  do  as  I 
please  ! " 


A    PAIR   OF  HUNGRY  EYES.  22$ 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

A  PAIR   OF   HUNGRY   EYES. 

B^ROM  the  south  gate  to  the  lakes,  —  three 
paths,  more  or  less  circuitous,  but  all  familiar 
to  the  feet  of  my  Dick  Bodurtha,  and  traversed, 
during  her  brief  university  course,  with  many  a 
gay  companion.  Sometimes  it  was  with  Dakotah 
that  Dick  went,  for  there  were  boats  to  hire  along 
shore,  and  Dick  was  used  to  the  oar  ;  and  the  two 
made  long  watery  voyages  of  exploration,  or  rocked 
idly  on  the  wave. 

Occasionally  Dick  stole  down  to  the  shore  and 
enjoyed  the  sinful,  thrilling,  secret  bliss  of  going 
out  alone  with  sails  !  Professor  Dane's  house  was 
among  the  substantial  mansions  on  the  cliff,  though 
Dick  knew  it  not.  Late  one  afternoon  he  saw  the 
little,  white-winged  boat  reeling  in  recklessly  among 
the  waves,  and,  with  indignation  in  his  keen  eyes, 
recognized  the  girlish  form  of  the  solitary  and 
adventurous  pilot.  He  went  to  the  matron  of  the 
Ladies'  Hall  and  solemnly  warned  her. 


226  TOWHEAD. 

"  It  cannot  be, "  said  the  good  matron.  "  What  I 
that  sweet,  fastidious  creature!  and  she  has  not 
asked  me  for  permission  to  go  sailing,  even  with  a 
companion,  for  a  week  !  It  must  have  been  one 
of  the  village  girls.  I  am  sure  you  are  mistaken, 
Professor  Dane." 

But  on  the  following  day  Professor  Dane  re 
quested  Miss  Boclurtha  to  remain  after  the  class. 
"  Did  you  go  out  by  yourself  in  a  sail-boat  yester 
day  ? "  he  asked,  when  they  were  alone.  There 
was  no  commendation  in  his  eyes  now,  but  the 
stern,  direct  question, 

In  all  her  life,  Dick  had  never  had  youth  or  man 
look  at  her  before  in  such  severe,  uncompromising 
fashion,  —  she,  the  lovely,  the  adored,  the  wor 
shipful  one  !  and  she  stood  speechless  with  won 
der. 

Professor  Dane  repeated  his  question. 

Dick's  spirit  rose  to  the  occasion.  An  old  and 
energetic  asseveration  of  Dymsbury  Park,  to  the 
effect  that  he  was  troubling  himself  with  affairs 
not  concerning  him,  flashed  through  her  mind  ; 
but  she  was  too  full  of  scorn  to  wish  to  appear 
inelegant. 

"  I  am  not  in  the  habit,"  she  replied,  loftily,  "  of 


A    PAIR   OF  HUNGRY  EYES.  22/ 

attempting  things  that  I  don't  know  how  to 
accomplish." 

The  professor  did  not  retreat.  Dick  knew  that 
his  tone,  though  so  firm,  was  even  and  kind.  "Will 
you  answer  my  question  ? "  he  said. 

At  the  strange  mastery  of  his  voice,  his  man 
ner,  his  eyes,  the  girl's  proud  spirit  made  a  hasty 
and  desperate  avowal  of  its  irresponsibility.  "  I 
did  go  out  sailing  alone,"  said  she;  "and,  more 
than  that,"  she  added,  "  I  shall  go  again  whenever 
I  choose  to  do  so." 

"  It  was  a  mad  performance,"  said  Professor 
Dane,  "  and  must  not  be  repeated.  I  give  you 
seriously  to  understand,  as  I  would  any  incautious 
person  whom  I  should  discover  in  a  like  perilous 
situation,  that  it  must  not  be  repeated.  If  you 
ever  attempt  to  go  out  on  the  lake  in  that  way 
again,  —  and  if  you  ever  do  attempt  it  I  shall 
know  it, — I  will  send  immediately  to  your  friends 
and  have  you  removed  from  within  reach  of  the 
danger.  We  are  supposed  to  be  dealing  with  ra 
tional  young  men  and  women,  and  not  with  reck 
less  children  ;  but,  remember,  I  shall  know  if  you 
attempt  the  thing  again,  and  I  shall  do  at  once 
and  to  the  letter  what  I  have  said  I  will  do.  I  will 
not  detain  you  longer." 


228  TOWHEAD. 

"  Indeed  !  "  said  Dick,  superciliously,  defiance 
and  scorn  flashing  black  in  her  eyes,  "  your  con 
versation  is  so  interesting  I  am  sorry  that  I  must 
so  soon  be  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  hearing  it ! " 

The  professor  did  not  look  black  nor  reply.  A 
look  of  pain  and  perplexity  crossed  his  face,  —  a 
face  that  had  a  quiet  air  of  being  set  steadfastly 
and  simply  in  the  direction  of  duty. 

As  Dick  went  out  she  knew  that  she  had  not 
conquered  —  neither  by  beauty,  nor  scorn,  nor  im 
pudence ;  but  the  victor  sat  within  there,  in  just 
and  manly  purpose,  unmoved.  This  unaccustomed 
consciousness  of  defeat  affected  Dick  with  a  pain 
ful  wonder.  She  tried  in  vain  to  realize  and  weigh 
the  situation.  But  she  secretly  resolved,  for  one 
thing,  that  she  would  not  again  go  sailing  alone  on 
the  lake.  She  had  a  perfectly  sound,  though  un 
intelligible  conviction  that  Professor  Dane  would 
discover  any  such  attempt  :  and,  furthermore,  she 
did  not  doubt  that,  if  occasion  arose,  he  would  un 
hesitatingly  carry  out  his  threat.  Dick  was  much 
pleased  with  the  University  of  the  Three  Lakes. 
She  enjoyed  life  there,  on  the  whole,  very  much, 
and  she  had  on  hand  at  present  many  affairs  of  an 
important  nature  which  she  did  not  wish  summa 
rily  disposed  of. 


A   PAIR   OF  HUNGRY  EYES.  229 

Daniel  Gaylord  and  Michael  Furnival  had  now 
become  as  old  friends,  sweetly  acknowledged  sub 
jects,  available  to  while  away  the  hours  on  any 
occasion  ;  while  around  the  candle  of  Dick's 
charms  other  moths  had  not  been  slow  to  gather. 
In  circles  outside  the  unhappy  and  disturbing 
influence  of  Professor  Dane,  she  was  acknowledged 
to  be  the  most  sweet-tempered,  the  most  lovely 
and  engaging  of  girls.  She  found  a  piquancy  and 
interest  in  each  new  acquaintance.  She  bestowed 
her  gifts  freely  on  the  matron,  her  money  on  the 
cook,  and  in  walking,  rowing,  sailing,  and  driving, 
the  sunny  days  passed  by. 

Even  the  Anglo-Saxon  class  was  felt,  on  the 
whole,  to  be  an  aid  rather  than  a  hinderance  to  her 
pleasures,  for  it  gave  a  few  comparatively  calm 
moments  in  which  to  arrange  the  swelling  tide  of 
other  affairs.  It  became  a  very  popular  class,  and 
notable  additions,  especially  from  among  the  num 
ber  of  Dick's  male  acquaintances,  were  made  to  it 
from  time  to  time.  Underneath  its  decorous 
exterior  there  went  on  indeed  a  busy  traffic  in 
notes,  choice  communications  pursuing  their  adroit 
and  silent  way  through  devious  paths.  Professor 
Dane,  earnestly  preoccupied,  was  conscious  of 


230  TOWHEAD. 

some  annoying,  intangible  quality  at  work  in  his 
class.  Signs  of  perplexity  appeared  now  and  then 
on  his  brow,  which  passed  away  before  the  weight 
of  his  more  serious  and  positive  efforts. 

One  day  the  professor  having,  without  warning, 
assumed  what  Dakotah  West  designated  as  a  "vile 
habit  of  skipping  around,"  Dick  and  Dakotah  were 
intellectually  overwhelmed  by  the  sudden  dark 
catastrophe.  Dakotah's  expression  was  helpless 
and  affecting  in  the  extreme.  Dick,  too,  acknowl 
edged  the  annoyance,  but  was  engaged  in  too  wide 
a  variety  of  pursuits  to  be  seriously  disturbed  by 
one  fatal  incident.  Receiving,  at  this  moment,  a 
communication  from  one  Charlie  Wilson,  containing 
precious  words  of  condolence,  coupled  with  an  invi 
tation  to  drive,  she  set  herself  quietly  to  work  to 
indite  a  suitable  answer.  Professor  Dane,  when  once 
awakened,  exercised  an  uncommonly  keen  and 
comprehensive  order  of  vision.  He  saw  the  little 
note,  though  so  cautiously  written  and  minutely 
folded,  and  he  courteously,  though  emphatically, 
requested  that  there  might  be  no  more  of  this 
foreign  employ  in  the  class. 

Five  minutes  afterwards,  supposing,  from  his 
preoccupied  air,  that  he  had  forgotten,  and  grown 


A   PAIR   OF  HUNGRY  EYES.  231 

bold  through  too  long  license,  Dick  essayed  again 
to  send  the  little  note  forth  on  its  journey.  The 
mighty  Dane  beheld  and  paused.  Dick,  who  had 
ridden  the  wild  colts  of  Dymsbury  Park  and 
defied  all  the  teachers  of  Mount  Grimrood,  turned 
strangely  and  instantly  pale.  Professor  Dane, 
without  any  exhibition  of  temper,  yet  gave  a 
moment  of  very  serious  and  decisive  consideration 
to  the  circumstance  which  had  irritated  him. 
Disobeyed  by  this  heedless  girl  in  the  presence  of 
all  his  class,  in  the  same  presence  he  gravely 
criticized  her  conduct  as  captious  and  inconsid 
erate,  as  that,  in  fact,  of  a  "mere,  spoiled,  wayward 
child." 

Poor  Dick  did  not  throw  off  the  trouble  as 
lightly  as  was  her  wont,  —  she,  the  brilliant,  the 
fair,  the  adorable  one,  unused  to  savage,  or  even 
logical  treatment.  She  sat,  with  burning  eyes, 
perfectly  still  and  pale.  But  fiery  indignation  was 
visible  on  the  countenances  of  those  her  youthful 
admirers.  Gaylord  fixed  upon  the  professor  green 
orbs,  charged  with  an  unblinking  wrath,  and 
Michael  Furnival,  in  the  hall,  loudly  proclaimed  his 
readiness  to  denounce,  to  threaten,  and  to  fight. 
Dick  laughed  a  little  insanely. 


232  TOWHEAD. 

"  You  will  do  nothing  of  the  sort.  He  did  quite 
right,"  she  said — "But  I  hate  him!"  she  added, 
with  a  convulsive  effort  that  choked  her  like  a  sob. 

Through  the  door  Dick  saw  the  professor's 
form  bowed  at  his  desk.  She  knew  that  he  had 
heard.  She  caught,  as  in  a  flash,  something  of  the 
meaning  of  his  patient,  troubled  face,  of  the  signs 
of  bitter  struggle  surviving  in  his  strength,  the 
marks  left  by  early  hardness  in  his  knotted 
hands.  An  arrow  of  shame  and  remorse  went  to 
her  heart.  She  felt  stifled  with  an  indescribable 
pain.  She  longed  to  get  away  from  Gaylorcl,  from 
Furnival,  even  from  Dakotah,  from  all.  In  her 
room,  she  threw  herself  impulsively,  face  down 
ward,  on  the  bed. 

Was  it  true,  then,  that  for  all  her  attractive  grace, 
her  praised  and  winsome  ways,  she,  Dick  Bodurtha, 
at  heart  was  to  be  only  condemned,  pitied,  and 
despised  ?  "  Selfish  !  inconsiderate  !  a  wayward, 
trifling  child ! "  She,  who  had  dreamed  of  so 
much,  —  that  was  long  ago,  at  Dymsbury  Park, 
—  so  much  attainment  and  goodness  for  her  long 
long  life  !  And  she  had  not  utterly  forgotten,  it 
occurred  to  her  now,  sometimes,  how,  when  the 
new  play  was  over —  some  time  —  she  meant  to  be 


A   PAIR   OF  HUNGRY  EYES,  233 

wiser  and  better  than  any  one  else.  And  the  years 
were  passing,  and  she  was  losing  the  way.  So 
many  things  blinded  her.  It  was  all  a  play,  — 
all  empty,  restless,  vain.  Dick  grasped  the  bed 
clothes  in  a  tearless  spasm. 

" But  I  won't  like  him"  she  concluded,  rele 
vantly,  rising.  "  He  tries  to  make  me  remember 
with  his  hateful,  compelling  eyes.  He  wants  to 
have  me  unhappy  all  the  time,  I  presume.  But  I 
shall  not  be.  It  hurts  me  to  like  him  !  "  cried 
Dick,  fiercely,  "  and  I  never,  never  will  !  I  said 
that  I  hated  him,  and  I  do  ! " 

So  Dick  was  as  happy  and  light-hearted  as  ever 
for  several  days,  and,  when  her  mind  was  com 
pelled  to  revert  to  the  subject,  she  ardently  hated 
Professor  Dane. 

Following  the  time  of  almost  unbroken  clear 
weather,  there  came  at  length  a  week  of  drenching 
rain.  The  paths  of  pleasure  became  floods  of 
water.  The  south  gate  stood  dripping  and  deso 
late.  In  the  tediousness  within  doors,  and  general 
dearth  of  entertainment,  Dakotah  West  suggested 
to  Dick  that  they  should  put  on  their  water-proofs 
and  go  up  to  the  usual  Thursday  evening  service 
in  the  chapel.  In  taking  advantage  of  this  idea 


234  TOWHEAD. 

both  had  a  mournful,  though  unspoken,  conscious 
ness  that  they  were  reduced  to  a  condition  of 
almost  pathetic  straits. 

The  president  of  the  university,  who  usually 
presided  on  such  occasions,  was  absent.  In  his 
chair  Dick  sawr,  with  singular  emotions,  the  form  of 
the  odious  and  dreaded  Dane. 

Impelled,  doubtless,  by  motives  similar  to  their 
own,  Dick  and  Dakotah  observed  in  the  assembled 
company  a  number  of  familiar  and  despondent 
friends  with  whom  attendance  at  Thursday  evening 
chapel  was  not  habitual.  A  casual  observer  would 
have  noticed  that  the  brow  of  gloom  lifted,  in  some 
cases,  as  these  two  favorite  young  ladies  entered 
and  religiously  seated  themselves  in  an  inconspic 
uous  part  of  the  room.  Ample  opportunity  for 
flirtation  arose.  Dakotah  enjoyed  the  social  at 
mosphere,  though  she  sat  nobly  attentive  to  the 
discourse.  Dick  desired  not  to  listen,  nor  even  to 
have  the  appearance  of  listening.  She  intended 
to  comport  herself  with  quiet  decency,  but  she 
had  not  come  to  the  chapel  to  hear  words  from  the 
lips  of  one  who  had  despised  and  wounded  her. 
With  sublime  indifference  she  turned  her  face  and 
her  thoughts  to  the  contemplation  of  other  things. 


A   PAIR   OF  HUNGRY  EYES.  235 

The  good  Dakotah  listened  and  heard  not.  Dick 
persistently  closed  her  ears,  and  wherever  she 
looked,  or  into  whatever  widely-wandering  channel 
directed  her  mind,  even  through  a  long  dialogue  of 
the  eyes,  exchanged  with  Daniel  Gaylord,  in  which 
the  weather  was  mutually  execrated  and  the 
dear,  idle  sail-boat  regretted  and  better  hope 
expressed  for  the  future,  she  heard  distinctly,  and 
distinctly  understood,  every  utterance  of  Professor 
Dane's. 

It  was  not  a  sanctimonious  voice  that  spoke  ;  it 
had  no  conventional  pulpit  tones  —  but  it  was  like 
the  story  of  a  soldier  bearing  real  scars  from  the 
battle-field  ;  or  of  a  pilgrim  worn  and  tried. 
It  touched  the  hidden  springs  of  life,  and  the 
unknown  depth  and  sorrow  of  Dick's  heart  re 
sponded.  From  listening  and  determining  not  to 
listen,  she  consented  at  last  to  listen ;  and  still 
putting  up  invisible  hands  to  ward  off  the  disquiet 
which  harassed  and  distracted  her,  she  seemed  to 
hear  again,  in  the  tones  of  that  gentle  and  persist 
ent  voice,  the  flute-note  that  stole  up  from  the 
meadow  where  poor  Job  Trench  had  laid  his  mar 
tyred  head.  Was  the  grass  long  on  his  grave  ?  Dick 
wondered.  Were  the  flowers  still  growing  there  ? 


236  TOWHEAD. 

The  old,  sweet  meadows,  —  she  would  like  to 
throw  herself  clown  in  them,  with  her  heart  to  the 
earth.  What  other  mother  had  she  known  !  She 
heard  again  the  plaintive  flute-note.  She  heard 
the  solgmn  and  jubilant  trumpet-peal  that  swept 
over  the  hills,  after  the  hard  self-denial  of  another 
brave  heart ;  all  the  voices  of  Dymsbury  Park 
rising,  like  the  wind,  pure  and  free,  calling  to 
simple  life  and  greatness  of  soul  and  some  true 
and  noble  work. 

Dick  listened  to  them  with  the  old  childish 
eagerness.  She  guessed  something  of  their  mean 
ing  now.  Who  could  tell  her  the  rest  and 
deepest  ?  Who  could  tell  her  what  they  said  to 
her?  The  good  man  talking  there.  He,  though 
following  in  a  widely  different  path,  had  heard 
them  and  learned  all  their  mystery. 

Dick  forgot  her  rancor  and  dislike,  forgot  every 
thing  personal,  except  that  she  was  troubled  and 
that  there  seemed  to  be  the  key ;  she  vaguely 
longed  for  help,  and  there  breathed  a  strong  and 
benign  helper.  Upborne,  for  the  time,  by  this 
new  and  purely  spiritual  excitement,  she  purposely 
stole  away,  while  Dakotah  lingered  to  speak  with  a 
friend  after  the  service,  and  hid  herself  in  the 


A   PAIR   OF  HUNGRY  EYES.  237 

crowd,  avoiding  Gaylord,  too,  who  thought  she  had 
passed  out. 

Professor  Dane  had  turned  to  the  organ  and  was 
touching  the  keys  thoughtfully.  He  supposed  the 
chapel  quite  deserted,  when  this  erring  and  incom 
prehensible  member  of  his  class  stood  suddenly 
before  him,  her  face  pale,  her  eyes  unnaturally 
large  and  bright.  Dick  met  the  professor's 
surprised  gaze  without  shrinking  or  embarrass 
ment,  speaking  in  an  unconsciously  eager  tone : — 

"  You  told  me  what  you  thought  of  me  the 
other  day,  Professor  Dane,"  said  Dick.  "  In  class, 
you  remember,  you  told  me  what  I  am.  I  know  it 
—  very  often  —  as  well  as  you.  But  you  ought 
not  to  have  told  me  that  unless  you  can  tell  me 
the  other,  what  should  any  one  do  f  What  should 
any  one  do  in  my  case? " 

In  those  bright,  tearless  eyes  there  was  a  look 
that  startled  the  good  Dane,  —  beautiful  eyes,  he 
had  seen  them  only  full  of  mischievous  and  laughing 
glances.  They  touched  him  now  with  their  strangely 
spiritual  expression,  a  deep,  honest,  almost  pitiful 
soul-craving.  He  saw  and  bowed  his  head  with 
unspeakable  kindness  and  compassion  ;  and,  desir 
ing  to  answer  truly,  he  moved  the  organ-keys  to  a 


238  TOWHEAD. 

strain  that  so  rose  from  struggle  to  glorious  rest 
and  strength,  that,  in  the  exalted  moment,  Dick's 
passionate  soul  understood  and  was  satisfied. 

When  the  professor  looked  up,  his  strange 
guest  had  disappeared,  —  but  not  the  hungry  eyes. 
They  haunted  him  for  hours  afterwards  —  pathetic 
ghosts  !  with  their  wonderfully  deep  expression. 


DICK  MAKES  A    CONCESSION.  239 


CHAPTER    XV. 
DICK  MAKES  A  CONCESSION. 

T~\ICK  lay  awake  for  full  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
after  she  had  got  home  from  chapel,  and,  in 
the  course  of  such  severe  and  unseasonable  medita 
tions,  she  concluded  that  if  she  was  going  to  set 
about  her  own  reform  in  earnest,  she  should  begin 
by  apologizing  to  Professor  Dane  on  the  morrow. 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  Dick,  drowsily  counting  on 
her  fingers  in  the  dark,  "  there  are  three  things ;  — 
a  —  a  —  saucing  him  about  the  sail-boat  —  and  — 
—  a  —  a  —  snubbing  him  in  class  - —  and  —  a  —  a 

,"  but  sleep  came  to  the  relief  of  that  already 

overtaxed  spiritual  organization,  and  soft  fingers 
and  pathetic  eyes  and  murmuring  lips  all  yielded 
to  sweet  repose. 

But  that  Dick  should  have  entertained  the  idea 
of  apologizing  to  the  Dane,  signified  more  of  an 
awakened  conscience  than  one  would  at  first 
suppose ;  for  my  lass,  though  she  may  have  had 
deep  moments  of  contrition,  had  ever  refrained 


240  TOWHEAD. 

from  any  soft  acknowledgment  of  them, — the 
lingering  stoicism  of  Dymsbury  Park,  where,  if  one 
did  another  an  injury,  he  should  in  due  time  make 
practical  amends,  but  the  admission  in  sentimental 
speech  that  one  could  be  in  the  wrong  was  con 
sidered  imbecile  and  weak. 

It  was  the  more  strange  then,  that,  as  the 
morning  rose  bright  and  fair,  and  Dick  calmly 
thought  over  the  triumphs  and  escapades  which 
should  adorn  the  new  clay,  her  soul  was  full, 
at  the  same  time,  of  a  most  sweet  and  grateful 
consciousness  of  repentance,  and  her  apology 
seemed  the  crowning  art  of  the  hour. 

When  Dick  looked  "good,"  she  somehow  looked 
more  than  that.  Dakotah  called  it  "  entrancingly 
divine."  Yet  it  was  not  guile  ;  it  was  not  artifice. 
It  seemed,  with  my  Dick,  a  sort  of  rare  and  ex 
quisite  inspiration  ;  it  seized  her  mightily ;  it 
breathed  from  every  pore  of  her  sweet  and  freshly 
dressed  body ;  and  it  would  have  convinced  the 
most  hardened  sceptic. 

Gaylord  watched  her  in  class,  and  marvelled  and 
admired,  and  afar  back  now  in  his  consciousness 
slumbered  the  thought  that  "  girls  are  infernal 
skittish." 


DICK  MAKES  A    CONCESSION.  241 

Furnival  watched  her,  and  longed  to  draw  forth 
from  her,  in  some  dim  and  melancholy  light,  the 
history  of  her  soul's  new  experience. 

And  still  Dick  breathed  forth  sweetness  and 
repentance. 

She  made  another  complete  failure  in  her  recita 
tion,  but  one  would  as  soon  have  thought  of 
remarking  the  fact  in  the  case  of  some  heavenly 
alighted  guest,  whose  mind,  unfamiliar  with  Anglo- 
Saxon,  was  yet  redolent  of  angelic  lore. 

And  when  her  school-mates  had  passed  out, 
Dick  leaned  both  white  arms  lightly  on  the  pro 
fessor's  desk,  and  the  look  in  those  deep,  clear 
eyes  of  hers  was  intoxicating  to  mortal  sight. 

"I  am  sorry,  Professor  Dane,"  said  Dick,  "that 
I  spoke  so  rudely  about  —  about  sailing,  you  re 
member.  And  I  am  sorry  that  I  was  so  rude  in 
class  —  and  I  hope  you  will  excuse  me." 

"  Why,  as  for  your  going  out  in  the  sail-boat 
alone,"  said  Professor  Dane,  quickly  and  pleas 
antly  ;  "  you  know  how  to  manage  it  a  little,  but  you 
don't  know  how  to  manage  it  very  well ;  and  the 
lake  is  an  unquiet  body  at  best,  and  storms  come 
over  it  very  suddenly, — and  therefore,  as  far  as 
that  is  concerned,  I  am  glad  that  you  are  sorry. 


242  TOWHEAD. 

And,  for  the  other,  it  is  of  no  consequence.  It  is 
quite  forgotten.  You  are  fond  of  sailing,  Miss 
Bodurtha?" 

Dick  gave  a  little  sigh  and  cast  down  her  eyes. 
It  signified,  that  although  her  heart  had  once  found 
pleasure  in  such  vain  conceits  —  and,  in  truth, 
Gaylord's  boat  was  to  be  ready,  by  agreement,  at 
three  o'clock  of  that  very  afternoon  —  she  now 
seemed  to  herself  to  be  absorbed  in  all  heavenly 
meditations  and  desires. 

Down  by  the  cliff  on  which  his  dwelling  stood, 
Professor  Dane  had  a  strong  boat  of  his  own. 
Whether  he  would  have  cared  to  give  this  rare 
penitent  a  sail  in  it  or  not,  his  honest  heart 
certainly  warmed  over  her  with  great  kindness. 

"  I  suppose  I've  been  too  fond  of  pleasure  of  all 
kinds,"  said  my  inspired  Dick,  tracing  a  fine  path 
way  through  the  dust  on  the  professor's  desk  with 
one  delicate  finger. 

"  Perhaps  the  Anglo-Saxon  bothers  you.  Is 
there  any  fresh  trouble  with  it  ? "  said  Professor 
Dane,  awakened  by  the  girl's  pensive  manner  to  an 
almost  tender  sympathy. 

At  this,  blush  after  blush  chased  each  other  over 
the  velvet  of  the  penitent's  fair  cheek ;  for  had  not 


DICK  MAKES  A    CONCESSION.  243 

her  discomfiture  in  class  been  occasioned  by  the 
professor's  new  habit  of  "skipping  around!" 

Dick  did  not,  however,  weakly  confess  to  this 
crime.  In  such  case  it  would  have  been  necessary 
to  implicate  Dakotah  ;  besides  she  reflected,  that, 
with  a  conscience  now  so  dangerously  on  the  alert, 
it  was  necessary  to  pause  somewhere,  and  she 
wisely  concluded  to  draw  the  line  here. 

"  Why,"  said  she,  with  delicious  evasion,  and 
lifting  her  eyes  gently  to  the  professor's  face ;  "  do 
I  have  such  very  poor  lessons  ?  " 

The  professor  longed  to  say  "  No."  He  longed 
to  comfort  that  sorrowing  young  heart  ;  but  more 
than  all  else,  he  was  honest. 

"  I  am  afraid,"  he  said,  in  a  thoughtfully  com 
passionate  tone,  "that  they  have  not  been  very 
good  lately.  But  I  think  that  that  can  be  im 
proved.  Perhaps  I  can  help  you  — 

Here  the  sedate  army  of  the  professor's  senior 
Latin  class  came  filing  into  the  room,  and  Dick 
murmured  softly,  "  Thank  you,  Professor  Dane  ;" 
and  her  eyes  fell  again  for  an  instant,  and  the 
sweet  blush  mantled  her  cheek,  and  she  picked  up 
her  unworn  Anglo-Saxon  text-book  and  departed. 

But   in    her  very   next   solitary  moment,   Dick 


244  TOW  HE  AD. 

beat  her  hands  upon  her  breast,  after  a  light 
affectation  of  the  manner  of  those  who  display 
their  towering  emotions  on  the  stage.  "  He  isn't 
like  any  of  the  rest ;  he's  more  fun,"  said  Dick, 
"  than  Furnival  and  Gaylord  and  all  the  rest  put 
together !  But,  somehow,"  she  added,  carefully 
arranging  an  eyelash  in  the  glass,  "  I  know  I  never 
could  like  him  in  the  world." 

Dick's  periods  of  inspired  goodness  were  variable 
in  their  duration.  In  the  present  instance  the 
palm  of  purity  and  peace  seemed  to  have  taken  up 
permanent  abode  upon  her  serene  and  lovely  feat 
ures.  And  now  she  and  Dakotah  tried  to  devise 
some  way  in  which,  under  Professor  Dane's  new 
method  of  class  procedure,  they  might  make  a 
tolerable  shift  at  Anglo-Saxon  without  yet  com 
mitting  the  whole  lesson  to  memory. 

During  the  pains  of  these  deliberations,  and 
while  as  yet  no  master-stroke  of  policy  had 
yielded  to  their  struggling  genius,  they  had  them 
selves  excused  from  class  for  three  consecutive 
days  by  professed  reason  of  severe  and  disabling 
headaches. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day,  as  Dick,  sur 
rounded  by  a  laughing  group  of  the  university 


DICK  MAKES  A    CONCESSION.  24$ 

youths,  was  cooling  her  aching  brow  in  a  retired 
and  pleasant  part  of  the  university  grounds,  she 
was  startled  to  see  the  brave  Dane  himself,  swing 
ing  his  arms  in  a  rapid  advance  down  this  se 
cluded  path,  which  afforded  him,  indeed,  a  shorter 
cut  home  to  his  high  tower  on  the  cliff. 

Dick's  forehead,  though  supposed  to  be  racked 
with  internal  pains,  had,  it  must  be  confessed, 
externally,  a  singularly  tranquil  and  untroubled 
appearance.  The  first  cloud  which  had  visited  it 
for  some  hours  now  appeared,  as  she  became 
aware  of  the  professor's  approach,  in  a  becoming 
little  knot  of  perplexity,  which  knitted  itself  be 
tween  her  eyes. 

"  Disperse  !  "  she  murmured  in  a  low  tone  to  her 
companions.  "  Depart !  abscond  !  quietly  scatter 
yourselves,  until  these  calamities  be  overpast  !  " 

It  chanced  that  Dick  had  this  day  been  carrying 
her  Anglo-Saxon  grammar  about  with  her  with 
a  politic  view  to  effect,  and  as  she  now  opened 
its  unfamiliar  pages  and  bent  her  eyes  upon  the 
obscure  text,  the  little  knot  of  perplexity  on  her 
brow  deepened  to  an  expression  of  almost  acute 
distress. 

She    wondered   whether    the    professor   would 


246  TOWHEAD. 

merely  lift  his  hat  and  pass  by,  or  stop  to  speak 
with  her  a  moment.  He  stopped,  surprised  at  meet 
ing  her  there,  and  with  such  real  faith  in  her 
indisposition,  and  such  real  pity  for  her  suffering 
softening  the  gaze  of  his  keen  dark  eyes,  that  the 
conscience,  which  really  did  repose  somewhere  in 
Dick's  fair  being,  rose  up  in  hot  rebellion,  as  it 
had  frequently  done  before  in  this  presence.  "  I 
never  thought  of  it  as  anything  wrong  before," 
Dick  thought;  "why  should  he  always  make  me 
feel  so,  and  always  makes  me  feel  guilty?  But, 
guilty  or  no  guilty,"  Dick  continued  firmly  to 
herself,  "  don't  you  dare  to  blush  the  way  you  did 
the  other  day  in  class,  Dick  Bodurtha,  or  you'll  get 
pins  stuck  into  you  when  you  get  Jwme  !  " 

Buoyed  up  by  the  prospect  of  so  desperate  an 
alternative,  Dick  nerved  herself  to  meet  the  pro 
fessor's  gaze  bravely. 

"  You  should  not  bother  yourself  with  the  book 
if  you  are  ill,"  said  Professor  Dane.  "  Put  it  by 
and  enjoy  the  pleasant  weather." 

"Oh,  I  do,"  said  Dick,  in  answer  to  the  last  sug 
gestion  ;  and,  "I — I  haven't  a  great  deal,"  she 
stammered,  helplessly,  in  answer  to  the  first. 

"Professor  Dane,    I  really  don't  know  how  to 


DICK  MAKES  A    CONCESSION. 

learn  that  book,"  said  Dick,  after  a  moment's  pause, 
lifting  her  beautiful,  piteous  eyes  to  his  face. 

"Don't  know  how!"  said  the  professor.  He 
took  the  book.  It  was  tiresome  standing.  He 
looked  about  him. 

Would  he  sit  down  with  her  —  with  her,  poor, 
ignorant,  conscience-smitten  Dick  Bodurtha,  in 
this  delightful  place  !  He  laid  a  fallen  bough  across 
two  heaps  of  shrubbery.  "  Let  us  sit  down,"  he 
said,  "you  must  be  tired." 

"  You  are  too  kind,  Professor  Dane,"  said  Dick, 
and  she  knew  that  that  was  all  too  true.  She  sat 
down  on  the  bough  and  the  professor  seated 
himself  beside  her. 

Dick  knew  that  her  scattered  companions  were 
watching  her  in  astonishment  from  various  points 
well  removed.  She  fancied  that  she  caught  the 
gleam  of  Gaylord's  emerald  eyes  from  behind  a 
distant  pine,  and  she  distinctly  saw  Furnival  gaz 
ing  upon  the  wondrous  scene  from  afar.  She  did 
not  call  the  professor's  attention  to  these  objects. 

Dick  knew,  but  she  cared  not,  for  her  soul 
was  happy.  Why  she  was  so  happy  she  did  not 
inquire.  Extreme  bliss,  indeed,  seemed  this  sweet 
creature's  natural  and  rightful  atmosphere ;  and  as 


248  TOWHEAD. 

she  sat  on  the  same  bough  with  the  professor, 
looking  over  the  same  book,  with  the  same  sun 
beam  glancing  through  the  branches  from  her  eyes 
to  his,  Dick  coddled  herself  up  in  her  wonderful, 
unquestioning  content,  and  was  inspired  with  a 
tenfold  goodness. 

Why  it  was  that  the  ever  ill-treated  Anglo-Saxon 
grammar  so  soon  found  its  way  out  of  sight  and  out 
of  mind,  slipping  quietly  down,  down  on  to  the  very 
ground,  I  cannot  tell ;  but  there  it  reposed  in  flut 
tering  ignominy,  yes,  at  the  good  professor's  feet. 

And  why  it  was  that  Dick  was  moved  to  reveal 
so  much  —  truthfully,  without  thinking  whether  it 
was  truth,  confidingly,  with  only  a  wondering  sense 
of  something  sweet  in  the  confidence  —  of  her  past 
life  to  Professor  Dane ;  even  of  Dymsbury  Park, 
and  of  Excelluna,  too,  in  whom  the  professor  took  a 
particular  interest,  asking  Dick  if  she  wrote  to  her 
frequently — and  Dick  felt  sorry  and  confessed  that 
she  had  not  for  a  long,  long  time,  and  the  professor 
said  he  should  think,  if  she  would,  it  would  please 
the  poor  lonely  woman,  and  Dick  blushed,  in  spite 
of  the  prospective  pins,  and  said  she  had  just  been 
thinking  that  she  would  write  her  a  letter  that 
very  night  — 


DICK  MAKES  A    CONCESSION.  249 

And  why  the  professor  found  so  much,  from  his 
own  sturdier  experience,  to  mate  with  and  console 
this  pretty  confidence,  laughing  sometimes  with  a 
hearty  gleam  in  his  eyes,  sometimes  listening  or 
speaking  with  a  grave  and  helpful  strength  — 

Why  the  Anglo-Saxon  grammar  should  have 
fallen  to  the  earth  and  all  this  come  about  I  can 
not  say.  But  when  the  sun  at  last  had  gone  down 
completely  over  the  lake  in  the  west,  and  a  chill 
breath  of  evening  came  up  in  the  air,  my  Dick 
and  the  professor  looked  up  with  a  mutual  impulse 
of  surprise  at  such  swift  and  erratic  performances 
on  the  part  of  Dame  Nature. 

"  I  have  kept  you  too  long,"  said  the  professor  ; 
and  he  rose  and  picked  up  the  despised  little  book 
which  my  poor  Dick,  alas  !  was  never  to  learn  how 
to  study,  and  he  walked  back  with  her  along  the 
frequented  path  past  the  feminine  eyes  at  the  win 
dows,  to  the  door  of  the  Ladies'  Hall.  There  he 
took  the  girl's  hand  for  an  instant  in  a  firm,  kind 
grasp  as  he  bade  her  good-night,  and  entered  after 
her,  and  courteously  apologized  to  the  matron  for 
her  absence.  Professor  Dane  was  evidently  un 
acquainted  with  the  less  pretentious  formula  of  the 
south  gate. 


250  TOWHEAD. 

Dick  went  to  her  room  with  the  air  of  one 
walking  in  a  blissful,  half-incredulous  dream.  But 
among  the  feminine  gazers  at  the  window,  one  pair 
of  eyes  had  kindled  with  a  little  foretaste  of  mis 
chief.  Dick  had  walked,  as  if  still  happily  dream 
ing,  to  the  glass,  and  stood  there  unconsciously 
arranging  a  few  scattered  locks  of  hair. 

"  So  you've  got  another  victim,"  said  a  giggling 
voice  at  the  door.  "  What  a  mighty,  mighty  fish 
this  time,  Bodurtha  !  " 

In  plain  truth  Dick  was  not  partial  to  her  femi 
nine  acquaintances,  always  with  the  one  exception 
of  the  beloved  Dakotah.  In  the  case  of  the 
present  base  intruder,  she  took  no  pains  to  con 
ceal  her  indifference. 

"Well,  Kidds,"  said  she,  without  turning  her 
face  from  the  glass,  "if  you  have  any  errand 
state  it." 

What  "  Kidds  "  had  started  with  the  intention 
of  stating  for  something  like  what  it  was,  a  mere 
vague  hypothesis,  she  was  now  piqued  into  affirm 
ing  as  an  incontestable  fact. 

"  Prepare  to  pick  up  your  heart,"  said  the  sharply 
giggling  voice.  "  But  of  course  you  ought  to  know, 


DICK  MAKES  A    CONCESSION.  2$  I 

what  everybody  thinks,  the  learned  and  mighty 
Dane  might  go  around  with  you  a  little  just  for 
pity,  to  try  and  convert  you,  but  he's  engaged  to  a 
Miss  Lawrence  that  lives  in  this  place ;  and  she 
graduated  at  the  university,  and  she's  awfully 
smart,  too,  and  didn't  use  to  stay  out  of  class,  I 
guess,  because  she  couldn't  learn  her  lessons !  " 

Kidds  could  not  see  Dick's  face  in  the  glass. 
Dick  watched  it  herself  with  a  sickening  dread 
and  wonder,  paling,  paling  quite  to  the  lips.  Dick 
was  used  to  taking  her  own  time  for  answering 
unpleasant  girls.  When  she  did  speak  it  was  the 
clear,  cool  voice  of  the  Dick  Bodurtha  whom 
Kidds  knew. 

"My  circle  of  acquaintances  is  not  so  small,"  said 
Dick,  "  nor  my  knowledge  of  society  so  infinitesi 
mal,  nor  my  desire  to  immolate  myself  at  the  altar 
so  great,  that  I  am  in  the  habit  of  regarding  every 
man  who  speaks  to  me  as  a  possible  husband.  Will 
you  kindly  enter  and  close  the  door,  or  depart,  my 
dear,  as  you  see  fit." 

"  I  know  a  good  many  who  say  it  would  look 
better  if  you  went  more  with  the  girls,  anyway," 
said  Kidds,  forcibly  closing  the  door  from  the 
outside. 


252  TOWHEAD. 

Dick  remained  standing  still  for  a  moment  or  two, 
then  she  went  to  the  door  and  quietly  locked  it. 

"After  all,"  said  Dick,  looking  up  at  last  with 
those  tearless,  pathetic  eyes  from  where  she  had 
thrown  herself  in  an  attitude  of  abandonment  by 
the  bedside;  "it's  a  great  deal  better  as  it  is.  I've 
said  I  always  wanted  to  be  perfectly  free,  and  I 
do.  It's  a  great  deal  easier  and  happier  not  to 
care,  and  I'm  afraid,  if  I'd  kept  on,  I  might  —  I 
might  have  liked  him." 

At  a  small  reception  which  the  young  ladies  held 
in  the  parlors  that  evening  none  was  gayer,  there 
was  none  whose  eyes  shone  so  fearlessly  bright  as 
my  Dick's.  But  those  bright  eyes,  if  one  had 
known  the  truth,  saw  through  a  dreary  maze,  and 
the  lights  in  the  room,  and  the  faces  of  her  com 
panions,  and  the  stars  when  she  caught  glimpses  of 
them  through  the  windows,  seemed  to  be  paling, 
paling. 


A    TROUBLED  LAKE.  253 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

A   TROUBLED    LAKE. 

'"T^HE  angel  of  goodness  departed.  The  restless 
demons  came  back  with  increased  power  to 
take  possession  of  Dick's  heart.  At  the  Univer 
sity  of  the  Three  Lakes  this  was  the  girl  who 
cared  for  nobody  and  who  dared  everything ; 
whose  eyes  mocked  you,  whose  sweet  laugh  had 
caught  an  unpleasant  ring. 

The  matron  of  the  Ladies'  Hall  having  been  made 
aware  of  several  bold  indiscretions  on  Dick's  part, 
took  an  opportunity  at  last  gently  to  remonstrate 
with  her.  Dick  lifted  her  eyes  to  the  matron's 
face  for  an  instant  with  such  a  weary,  almost  hag 
gard  look  in  them,  that  the  good  woman  was  dis 
concerted,  and  if  Dick  was  not  mad  for  pleasure, 
then  she  knew  not  what  ailed  the  girl. 

"What  should  you  advise  me  to  do  then  ?  "  said 
Dick,  speaking  lightly.  "  It  is  no  more  trouble  to 
you  than  it  is  to  me.  One  must  fill  the  time  some 
how." 


254  TOWHEAD. 

To  this  considerate  and  respectful  speech  the 
matron  replied,  with  a  face  full  of  wonder;  "  I  don't 
know  what  ails  you,  my  child,"  she  said. 

The  good  Dane  was  troubled,  distressed.  He 
looked  in  vain  to  see  once  more  the  hungry  ex 
pression,  or  the  heavenly  aspiring  expression 
which  had  seemed  to  him  to  open  like  wells,  giving 
glimpses  of  an  unknown  depth.  If  he  chanced  to 
meet  Dick's  eye,  it  was  only  a  surface  glance  that 
she  vouchsafed  him  —  brief,  indifferent,  heedless. 
Yet  Professor  Dane  judged  far  more  truly  and 
deeply  than  the  matron.  He  knew  that  it  was  not 
purely  increased  happiness  which  gave  the  wilder 
gayety  to  Dick's  manner.  So  delicately  he  divined 
her  condition  he  knew  that  any  stern  or  reproach 
ful  word  would  fall  like  added  fuel  on  some  already 
desperate  and  mysterious  despair  in  that  young 
heart.  She  had  forgotten  the  hour  of  her  sweet, 
strange  confidence  in  him  ;  otherwise  it  seemed 
to  him  that  he  might  in  a  metaphorical  sort  of 
sense  have  taken  the  sorrowful  young  creature  in 
his  arms  and  asked  her  to  tell  him  the  trouble. 

The  professor  having  dismissed  his  last  class, 
rose  and  gathered  up  for  later  perusal  the  written 
exercises  which  some  of  his  senior  pupils  had  left 


A    TROUBLED  LAKE.  255 

on  his  desk.  In  doing  so  he  detected  one  scrap 
which  appeared  to  have  fallen  from  among  the 
others  to  the  floor,  and  he  picked  it  up  and  hastily 
thrust  it  into  his  pocket  with  the  rest.  At  ten 
o'clock  that  night,  looking  up  from  his  books,  and 
the  pleasant  fire  burning  in  his  grate,  which  latter 
seemed  doubly  cheerful  in  contrast  with  the  storm 
which  had  risen  and  was  blowing  outside,  he  be 
thought  him  that  he  would  now  examine  those 
class  exercises.  He  spread  them  out  on  his  table, 

—  neatly  written  and  correct  they  were,  —  disqui 
sitions  in  Latin  on  learned  and  abstruse  themes. 
The  professor  smiled  a  little  proudly  at  the  prog 
ress  through  which  he  had  watched  those  ambi 
tious  pupils.  When  lo  !  in  the  midst  of  the  digni 
fied  array,  there  suddenly  arose  before  his  eyes,  and 
seemed  to  grow,  as  he  gazed,  into  gigantic  letters, 
a  ragged,  pitiable  little  scrawl  indited  in  the  most 
reckless  English.  Even  before  he  had  formed  any 
idea  of  the  contents,  or  glanced  at  the  signature, 
his  heart  thrilled  with  a  subtle  sense  of  the  writer. 
"  Dear  Furnival,"  said  the  note ;  "  I  go  to  please 
myself.  I've  always  wanted  to  explore  Little  Squall 

Island  by  moonlight.  Do  you,  reverend  sir,  have 
the  boat  ready  by  eight  o'clock  sharp.  Won't  we 


256  TOWHEAD. 

sail  home  fast  by  the  pale,  pale  moonlight !  And 
the  cook  —  she  is  my  dearest  friend  —  she  will  for 
me  unlocketh  the  window. 

"Thusly  ever  of  theely, 

"DlCK  BODURTHA." 

And  the  girl  who  had  planned  and  written  this 
was  the  one  who  had  told  him  a  few  short  days 
ago,  with  such  a  divine  grace  of  expression,  that 
she  was  "sorry!"  Furnival  had  accidentally 
dropped  the  communication  while  passing  out  of 
the  class-room,  and  it  was  this  that  he  had  picked 
up,  supposing  it  to  be  one  of  the  Latin  exercises. 

These  things  flashed  through  the  professor's 
mind  without  his  heed  as  he  looked  out  through 
the  night  and  storm  to  bee  the  white  caps  breaking 
on  Lake  Squall. 

Of  one  thing  he  was  terribly,  instinctively  sure  — 
for  it  had  been  pleasant  at  the  time  the  two  had 
planned  to  start  —  somewhere  out  on  that  dolorous 
lake,  or  under  its  senseless  waters  — "  O  my 
God!"  said  the  professor,  shuddering  —  or,  per 
chance,  chilled  and  drenched  with  the  wind  and 
rain  on  that  shelterless  little  island,  was  Dick 
Bodurtha,  her  only  companion  a  slight  and  bookish 


A    TROUBLED  LAKE.  257 

Adonis,  whose  knowledge  of  sea-craft  was  hardly 
equal  to  the  girl's  own. 

The  professor,  usually  inclined  to  meet  every 
emergency  with  the  best  of  courage  and  hope,  now 
made  ready  for  his  battle  with  the  elements  with  a 
set  face,  hopelessly.  If  they  had  reached  the 
island  before  the  storm  arose,  as  was  possible, 
"the  lad  "  would  advise  staying  there,  he  thought  ; 
"  but  the  girl !  who  could  tell  ?  Great  heavens  ! 
she  feared  nothing." 

He  passed  out  through  the  room  where  his  sis 
ter,  a  woman  dressed  in  widow's  black,  with  a  face 
as  strongly  refined  as  the  professor's  own,  was 
folding  away  her  sewing.  In  answer  to  her  look 
of  surprise,  he  told  her  the  story  briefly. 

"  There's  no  hope,"  he  said ;  "the  girl  is  insane, 
and  the  lad  is  a  puppy  with  soft  sinews." 

An  intense  nervous  energy  escaped  him  with 
these  last  syllables.  The  sharp,  unusual  bitter 
ness  of  the  Dane's  tone  surprised  his  sister  most. 
He,  hastening  down  the  narrow  cliff-path,  so  fami 
liar  that  his  feet  bounded  over  it,  even  in  the  dark, 
with  the  utmost  firmness,  was  conscious  neither  of 
wind  nor  rain.  He  dragged  out  his  boat  alone  ;  the 
boat  that  was  the  jest  of  sunny  days,  with  its  cum- 


258  TOWHEAD. 

bersome,  unwieldy  strength.  The  toughness  of 
the  oars  well  matched  the  rower's  strength.  He 
held  it  against  wind  and  wave,  firmly,  desperately ; 
the  look  in  his  face  which  sets  doom  and  tempest 
at  defiance.  He  was  toiling  towards  the  island. 
There  was  one  hope.  "  One  hope,''"  the  professor 
muttered  over  to  himself.  Had  he  too  gone  in 
sane,  because  that  one  hope  seemed  suddenly  to 
absorb  all  his  life,  past,  present,  and  future  ?  She 
had  tacitly  appealed  to  him.  Perhaps  he  could 
have  saved  her  !  Or  did  he  dream  that,  if  per 
chance  one  golden  head  had  gone  down  beneath 
the  wave,  whatever  triumph  or  joy  might  come  to 
him  in  later  years  there  could  never  be  any  bliss 
for  him  like  the  bliss  that  might  have  been  ! 

As  the  toiler  neared  the  island  it  was  midnight. 
There  was  no  cessation  of  the  wind,  which  blew 
colder,  but  the  moon  shone  out  through  a  rift  in 
the  clouds,  and  there  in  that  pale  light,  on  that 
desolate,  melancholy  shore,  to  the  angry  swash  of 
the  waves  and  the  shrill  moan  of  the  wind,  were 
revealed  my  Dick  and  Furnival  dancing !  Verily, 
it  was  done  to  keep  the  breath  of  life  in  their 
drenched  and  shivering  bodies.  And  "Verily,  I 
thank  God !  "  said  the  professor,  heeding  not  while 


A    TROUBLED  LAKE.  259 

he  beheld  them  :  and  not  until  long  afterwards  the 
scene  came  up  to  him  as  possessing  something 
solemnly,  ludicrously  weird. 

Furnival  hailed  him  with  a  shout.  But  my  poor 
Dick  !  she  would  rather  have  shivered  and  danced 
through  the  night  than  that  this  man  who  loved 
not  her  should  come  to  save  her  for  his  great  pity. 
Ay,  she  believed  that  she  would  rather  have  died, 
and  gone  to  sleep  down  under  those  sombre  waves. 
Her  hair  hung  loose  and  wet  about  her,  her  gar 
ments,  too,  were  soaked  and  dripping  with  rain  ; 
and  it  seemed  to  the  professor,  if  this  fair  girl  had 
lived  many  sorrowful  years,  she  could  hardly  have 
turned  to  him  eyes  of  a  deeper  misery.  But  those 
lovely,  miserable  eyes  did  not  fill  nor  shrink. 

"  Furnival  did  not  fasten  the  boat  securely  ;  the 
storm  came  on  us  unawares  and  we  lost  it,"  said 
she,  calmly  :  "  otherwise  I  should  have  ventured  to 
go  home  with  it." 

"  I  do  not  doubt  it,"  said  the  professor,  gently, 
as  to  some  sick  or  irresponsible  person.  The 
tone  springing  from  the  deep  kindness  of  his 
heart,  Dick  could  not  understand,  save  as  dictated 
by  sublime  contempt  and  pity. 

"I  shall  not  trouble  you,"  she  said;  and  then 


260  TOWHEAD. 

the  light  and  the  misery  both  seemed  to  fade  out 
of  her  eyes,  and  she  sank  down  all  in  her  golden 
hair  and  her  drenched  garments  in  a  dead,  weary 
faint. 

Furnival  thought  it  was  death  indeed,  and  his 
expression  was  intensely,  unaffectedly  tragic. 

"  Good-bye,  Professor,"  said  he,  waving  his 
hand.  "  God  knows  we  meant  no  harm.  I  am 
going  to  drown  myself." 

Between  the  two  the  professor  had  a  hard  time 
of  it.  He  succeeded  in  capturing  Furnival  and 
bringing  him  to  reason  ;  and  he  lifted  the  uncon 
scious  girl  and  bore  her  to  the  boat.  There  he 
wrapped  his  coat  about  her  and  made  as  comfort 
able  a  place  for  her  head  as  he  could  ;  she  gasped 
several  times  and  opened  her  eyes  to  misery  again, 
but  lay  perfectly  still  as  he  had  placed  her,  only 
putting  up  an  arm  before  her  quiet  face. 

The  wind  and  wave  being  on  his  side  now,  the 
professor  made  for  the  shore  rapidly.  He  heroic 
ally  accepted  Furnival' s  Lilliputian  efforts  at  help 
ing  him  haul  in  the  boat,  and  spoke  to  him  with  a 
manly  consideration  which  touched  and  won  Fur- 
nival's  heart  for  all  time. 

"Don't  imagine  it's  all  your  fault,  my  lad,"  said 


A    TROUBLED  LAKE.  261 

he.  "  Cheer  up.  Run  home  and  get  in  between 
some  dry  sheets  —  and  learn  wisdom  for  the 
future.  My  sister  will  care  for  this  young  lady." 

"  I  can  walk  home,"  said  Dick,  vainly  endeavor 
ing  to  brace  her  chilled  and  weary  members 
against  the  wind.  "  The  —  the  cook  will  let  me 
in." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  see  how  you  can  ! "  exclaimed  Fur- 
nival,  ruefully.  "  It's  a  mile  to  the  hall,  and  you 
look  so,  and  you  fainted  dead  away  over  on  the 
island." 

But  the  professor  had  already  deliberately  taken 
Dick  up  in  his  arms  and  was  carrying  her  up  the 
cliff  towards  the  high  tower.  Furnival  turned  to 
look  a  moment,  before  he  struck  out  for  home. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  he,  a  little  bitterly.  "  He 
deserves  her.  Let  him  have  her.  I've  got  my 
precious  skin  and  bones." 

Borne  up  the  hill  in  the  professor's  arms,  saved 
by  one  who  despised  her,  carried  to  his  house  a 
shivering  burden  for  pity's  sake,  Dick's  proud 
heart  bled  and  broke.  "  My  sister  will  care  for 
her,"  he  had  said.  Dick  thought  of  the  girl  who 
had  giggled  out  those  heartless  word-arrows  at  her 
door  ;  and  this  unknown  sister  of  the  professor's, 


262  TOWHEAD. 

might  she  not  be  more  unkind  ?  She  had  good 
reason  to  be  unkind.  She  would  be  vexed  because 
her  brother  had  been  called  out  to  toil  through  the 
storm  at  night  to  save  a  heedless  girl.  She  would 
show  a  silent  contempt  for  and  suspicion  of  her. 
She  would  attend  to  her  wants  with  something  of 
the  kindness  one  might  show  a  suffering  dog. 

At  the  door  Dick  caught  her  struggling  breath. 

"You  must  put  me  down,  here,"  she  said;  "  I 
will  not  go  in  there.  I  am  so  miserable,  it  doesn't 
much  matter,  I  know,  but  I  cannot  and  I  will  not 
bear  that." 

"Will  not  bear  what?"  said  the  professor,  with 
grave  wonder.  "  I  should  think  you  might  trust 
me,  child,  at  least.  My  own  dear  sister  is  not 
more  honored  and  sacred  in  my  thoughts  than  you 
shall  be  in  my  house  to-night." 

"  Oh,  it  isn't  that ! "  moaned  Dick.  "  I  do 
trust  you,  and  I  know  you'll  be  good  and  kind. 
And  I  wouldn't  mind  a  whole  army  of  wild  Hot 
tentots,"  said  poor,  tired  Dick,  desperately.  "  No, 
I  wouldn't  !  For  I  believe  they  might  pity  me 
and  be  good  to  me  ;  but  I'd  rather  die,  yes,  I'd 
rather  lie  right  down  here  on  the  doorsteps  and  die 
than  go  in  there  as  I  am  now,  and  meet  2.  girl !  " 


A    TROUBLED  LAKE.  263 

In  spite  of  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion  a  smile 
played  under  the  professor's  moustache. 

"  My  sister  once  had  a  daughter,"  said  he,  "who, 
if  she  had  lived,  would  be  older  than  you  are  now. 
She  is  not  a  girl,  she  is  a  true,  sympathetic  woman. 
And  our  only  maid-servant  is  over  forty  years  old, 
and  is  at  present,  I  have  no  doubt,  peacefully 
slumbering  away  in  the  attic.  Such  terrors  were 
all  in  your  imagination.  Dismiss  them.  Come." 

But  Dick  could  not  smile.  "  I  don't  much  care," 
said  she  —  "but  I  don't  mind  going  in  now." 
And  like  some  strange,  bewildered  bird,  with  spent 
breath  and  bedraggled  wings,  Dick  entered  into 
this  warmed  and  lighted  home. 

Never  a  question  the  angel  in  black  asked  her, 
Dick  remembered ;  never  a  smile  at  her  misery, 
nor  a  scowl,  nor  a  mean  suspicion,  crossed  that 
strong,  fine  face.  But  she  tinderstood — as  the 
immortals  do — and  fed  and  warmed  and  clothed 
the  belated  bird  and  put  her  in  her  own  sweet 
room,  and,  by  the  very  grace  of  her  presence, 
charmed  her  into  a  seventh  heaven  of  rest. 

In  the  morning,  before  any  alarm  could  have 
been  occasioned  by  reason  of  Dick's  absence,  the 
good  sister  accompanied  her  to  the  hall.  The 


264  TOWHEAD. 

matron  was  a  gentle  friend  of  the  professor's  sister, 
and  the  latter  so  tenderly  related  to  her  the  story 
of  Dick's  midnight  adventures  that  the  matron 
only  rose  and  clasped  Dick  enthusiastically  to  her 
breast.  "  You  must  rest.  You  shall  not  go  to 
your  recitations  for  two  days,"  she  said. 

"  Isn't  it  strange  how  I  get  out  of  scrapes,  now  that 
I  don't  care  anything  about  it ! "  mused  Dick,  with  a 
sad,  impersonal  interest  in  the  case,  as  she  wended 
her  way  to  her  room.  She  found  Dakotah  there, 
gazing  blankly  at  the  untumbled  bed.  But,  if  the 
matron  had  been  moved  to  clasp  Dick  to  her  breast, 
what  were  Dakotah's  emotions  on  hearing  the  tale  of 
her  darling's  exploits.  She  too  remained  away  from 
recitations,  and  ever  and  anon  gazed  at  her  friend, 
as  though  she  saw  her  restored  to  her  from  the 
dead.  As  for  Dick,  she  smiled  and  talked  bravely ; 
but  it  seemed  as  though  her  life  had  slipped  away 
somehow. 

The  matron  having  proscribed  intellectual  toils 
for  Dick  for  the  present,  my  lass  engaged  with 
Dakotah  in  a  game  of  chess.  Here,  having  ar 
ranged  their  hostile  forces,  they  carried  on  battle 
with  such  a  vagueness  of  manoeuvre  and  with  such 
an  artless  generosity  of  conduct,  the  one  towards 


A    TROUBLED   LAKE.  26$ 

the  other,  that  victory  forgot  its  laurels  and  defeat 
was  robbed  of  its  sharpest  pang. 

Still  later  Dick  wandered  down  to  the  matron's 
room.  The  matron  made  her  lie  down  on  the 
lounge  in  her  pleasant  sitting-room,  showed  her 
her  scrap-books  and  photograph-albums,  and 
chatted  to  her  entertainingly.  While  there,  there 
came  a  ring  at  the  hall  door.  The  maid  brought 
in  a  card,  —  "For  Miss  Bodurtha,  " — and  the 
name  on  the  card  was  Erwin  Dane. 

"  He  might  at  least  leave  me  in  peace,"  thought 
Dick  ;  but  her  heart  did  not  beat  violently,  nor  her 
eyes  shrink  in  the  straight  gaze  she  had  fixed  on 
the  matron's  face. 

"  I  will  go  into  the  reception-room  and  see  him," 
she  said. 

"  No,  no,"  said  the  matron.  "  It  is  too  chill  for 
you  there.  You  shall  have  this  room  in  which  to 
receive  him.  I  am  going  out." 

Before  Dick  realized  that  the  matron  had  passed 
out,  or  recovered  herself  to  lift  her  head  from  the 
pillows  the  matron  had  placed  for  her  on  the  lounge, 
the  professor  had  entered  the  room.  So  she  took 
advantage  of  the  needed  support  the  pillows  gave 
her,  and  lay  still  on  them.  The  professor  had 
never  seen  her  look  so  pale  and  lovely. 


266  TOWHEAD. 

"  It  s  very  kind  of  you  to  come  to  inquire  for 
me,"  said  Dick ;  and  further  than  that,  though 
she  was  not  embarrassed,  she  seemed  scarcely  to 
care  to  meet  the  professor's  eyes. 

The  professor  spoke  pleasantly  on  a  variety  of 
ordinary  topics  ;  and  then,  as  it  was  so  still  and 
they  were  alone  together  in  the  room,  he  ap 
proached  a  subject  nearer  his  heart. 

"  When  I  was  rowing  out  there  in  the  storm  to 
find  you,  last  night,"  said  he,  "  I  thought  over 
many  things.  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would 
never  again  allow  any  conventionality,  or  any  —  any 
feeling  whatever  of  my  own,  to  prevent  me  from 
offering  my  whole  heart's  assistance  to  one  who 
might  seem  to  need  my  aid  —  who  might  seem  to 
need  the  aid  of  any  honest  and  friendly  heart." 

Dick,  growing  paler  and  paler,  looked  away  and 
said  nothing. 

"I  am  so  much  older  than  you  —  my  experience 
of  life  has  been  so  much  different  —  I  have  a  right 
to  speak  to  you  thus.  And  I  thought  —  once,"  — 
continued  the  professor,  his  deep  voice  trembling, 
"  that  you  regarded  me  as  one  whom  you  might 
trust.  Once  I  fancied  —  and  I  shall  never  forget 
it  —  that  you  looked  at  me  as  though  you  believed 


A    TROUBLED   LAKE.  267 

I  might  indeed  have  some  power  to  help  you.  If 
you  knew  what  I  would  give  to  help  you  —  if  you 
knew " 

Alas,  poor  Dick !  She  saw  this  not  as  love  but 
magnanimity,  a  magnanimity  that  stung  and  slew 
her. 

"Stop!  "  she  cried,  impetuously,  putting  up  her 
hands  before  her  eyes,  while  a  deep  red  spot  of 
agony  and  shame  glowed  on  either  cheek  —  "  Stop  ! 
I  do  not  want  to  hear  you  !  I  cannot  bear  it !  " 

"  We  will  let  that  pass  then,"  said  the  professor, 
gently,  his  own  face  very  pale.  "  But  for  God's 
sake,  my  poor  child,"-— he  said,  with  a  quiet  disre 
gard  for  his  own  suffering  —  "  tell  me  what  troubles 
you  ? " 

Dick  kept  her  hands  over  her  eyes.  She  could 
not  hide  the  flaming  cheeks.  "  I'd  rather  die," 
said  she,  through  her  white  teeth  ;  "  I'd  rather  be 
flayed  —  and  quartered  —  and  —  and  quartered 
alive  !  "  cried  poor  Dick,  with  a  desperate  recollec 
tion  of  Excelluna's  book  of  martyrs  —  "than  tell 
you  !  " 

"  Am  I  indeed  so  poor  a  comforter  ? "  said  the 
Dane,  sadly,  smiling  a  little  in  spite  of  all  at  Dick's 
ghastly  hyperbole  of  speech. 


268  TOW  HE  AD. 

"  If  you  wanted  to  be  kind  to  me,"  Dick  went 
on,  excitedly,  "you  would  leave  me,  you  would 
never  speak  to  me  in  that  way  again.  I  am  tired, 
I  can  not  bear  to  hear  it." 

"  Well,"  said  the  professor,  still  gently,  rising, 
"  I  can  be  kind  to  you  in  that  way.  When  you 
are  calmer  you  will  appreciate  what  I  have  said  at 
least  enough  to  know  that  I  am  always  ready  to 
serve  you.  I  beg  of  you  that  you  will  never  let 
any  —  any  thing  false  prevent  you  from  giving  me 
that  consolation,  if  I  can  help  you."  And  he  was 
gone. 

Dick  lay  motionless,  covering  her  eyes,  until  all 
the  color  had  faded  slowly  out  of  her  face  again. 
Were  those  bright  eyes  never  to  know  tears? 
She  lifted  them  with  a  burning  despair.  The 
tears  were  unutterable  in  the  child's  heart  —  ah,  if 
Dick  could  have  known,  it  was  not  Miss  Lawrence, 
however  learned  and  admirable  she  might  be, 
whom  Professor  Dane  loved,  but  this  wretched, 
wretched  little  girl  with  the  suffering,  tearless 
eyes. 


THE  STARRING    TOUR.  269 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  "STARRING"  TOUR. 

r  I  "HE  term  was  near  its  close  at  the  University 
of  the  Three  Lakes,  and  my  Dick  and  Dako- 
tah  were  glad  ;  for  they  both  felt  that  the  star  of 
their  intellectual  course  was  waning,  and  needed 
rekindling  amid  other  scenes. 

Dick  being  too  far  removed  from  her  friends  in 
one  direction,  and  Dakotah  in  another,  to  make  it 
practicable  that  they  should  return  home  for  the 
short  vacation,  they  both  accepted  the  invitation  of 
Dakotah' s  aunt,  who  lived  in  the  suburbs  of  a 
lively  western  town  about  fifty  miles  distant,  to 
spend  the  time  with  her. 

There,  amid  ample  grounds,  and  with  saddle- 
horses  at  their  disposal,  it  may  truly  be  said  that 
they  enjoyed  a  season  of  complete  mental  rest. 

Early  in  the  course  of  the  vacation,  Gaylord, 
having  paid  his  dutiful  respects  to  his  parents 
at  home,  came  to  sojourn  in  the  town  where 


2/0  TOWHEAD. 

Dick  and  Dakotah  were,  and  rode  with  them 
daily. 

The  trio  became  interested  in  the  affairs  of  the 
liberal  church  with  which  Dakotah's  aunt  was  con 
nected,  in  so  much  that  they  planned  a  theatrical 
entertainment  for  its  emolument.  They  found 
a  play  admirably  adapted  to  their  force  of  execu 
tion  ;  Dick  was  the  intractable  and  capricious ; 
Dakotah,  the  calm  and  matronly ;  Gaylord,  the 
practical  man  of  fortune ;  but  for  the  gay  and 
dashing  adventurer  —  who  could  suit  save  our 
gifted  Furnival  ?  So  a  letter,  with  money  for  the 
journey,  was  sent  to  the  poor  but  beauteous  youth 
at  "  Kirkville,"  whither  he  had  gone  to  rejoin  his 
supporters  amongst  the  ladies  of  the  Baptist  church, 
with  his  pockets  full  of  prize-medals  and  cer 
tificates  of  high  college  advancement  and  commend 
atory  letters.  Furnival  quickly  responded  to  the 
call,  and  the  cast  of  characters  was  complete. 

And  many  miles  away,  Mrs.  Bodurtha  and  Mr. 
Higgins,  who  had  conscientiously  removed  their 
charge  "from  within  hearing  distance"  of  the 
allurements  and  devices  of  the  theatre,  slept  the 
unawakened  sleep  of  the  just. 

"Victims   of    Fashion "    was    brought    out    on 


THE  STARRING   TOUR.  2/1 

temporary  boards  in  the  vestry  of  the  liberal 

church  at  B ,  and  was  received  with  unbounded 

favor,  and,  in  truth,  the  amateur  performance 
had  something  extraordinary  about  it ;  for  while 
Dakotah  and  Gaylord  did  their  part  creditably, 
Furnival  developed  a  sudden  astonishing  genius  for 
the  art,  and  my  Dick,  who  had  a  rightfully  in 
herited  penchant  in  that  line,  threw  into  it  the 
concentrated  force  of  a  restless  and  feverish  will. 

The  repetition  of  the  play  was  thrice  demanded 

in  B .  The  last  time  it  was  given  in  the 

town  concert-hall,  on  a  spacious  stage,  with  a 
flattering  number  of  supernumeraries,  and  under 
the  fairest  auspices  in  every  way.  The  success  was 
brilliant  and  unprecedented.  The  local  news 
papers  appeared  with  such  headings  as  "  The 
Coming  Dramatists,"  "High  Art  in  High  Circles," 
"The  Sensation  of  the  Day,"  etc.,  etc. 

None  took  these  laurels  more  to  heart  than 
Gaylord  and  Dakotah.  Astounded  by  the  sudden 
revelation  of  dramatic  brilliancy  in  themselves,  the 
noble-minded  pair  became  a  prey  to  glorious 
ambition;  while  Dick  and  Furnival  cleared  all 
obstructions  from  the  stream  with  characteristic 
impetuosity. 


272  TOWHEAD. 

A  "  starring  "  tour  through  some  of  the  Western 
towns  was  planned  for  the  remaining  two  weeks  of 
the  vacation.  The  proceeds  were  to  be  devoted  to 
completing  Furnival's  education,  his  relations  to  the 
ladies  of  the  Baptist  society  in  Kirkville  being  re 
garded  somewhat  in  the  light  of  an  ignominy.  It  was 
the  aim  of  the  unstudious  three  of  the  company  to 
relieve  their  gifted  companion  from  sectarian  and  im 
pecunious  restraints,  and  give  his  illustrious  genius 
room  to  follow  some  more  congenial  bent.  If  the 
starring  tour  should  prove  a  failure,  pecuniarily,  it 
was  only  a  more  exciting  way  of  travelling ;  the 
rich  three  had  money  enough  with  them,  and 
Furnival  should  still  be  the  object  of  their  tender 
consideration.  But,  as  sometimes  happens  in 
cases  where  there  is  a  gay  spirit  of  unconcern 
and  no  hampering  need,  the  adventurers  sailed 
on  in  a  wonderfully  smooth  and  remunerative 
course.  Gaylord  advertised  their  coming  through 
successive  towns,  in  posters  of  exaggerated  size, 
blazing  with  letters  of  red  and  gold.  They  oc 
cupied  the  most  elegant  rooms  in  the  hotels,  and 
had  the  natural  air  of  haughty  and  distinguished 
worldlings.  They  were  even  feted;  on  one  occa 
sion  invited  to  dine  with  the  Mayor  of  Peak  City. 


THE  STARRING    TOUR.  273 

Hence  it  was  that  the  last  week  of  the  vacation 
passed  by,  and  the  University  of  the  Three  Lakes 
opened  its  doors  again  and  gathered  in  its  scattered 
flock  from  the  North  and  the  East,  and  the  South 
and  the  West,  but  witnessed  not  the  return  of  our 
gayly  starring  adventurers.  The  latter  left  letters 
and  telegrams  behind  them.  They  did  not  regard 
themselves  as  runaways,  but  they  knew  that  the 
time  must  now  be  short  ere  they  should  be  over 
taken  and  arrested  in  their  triumphant  career. 
This  gave  all  that  was  needed  to  complete  the 
piquancy  and  charm  of  each  mad  day. 

And  during  these  days  Dakotah  was  perplexed 
by  something  in  Dick's  manner.  While  that  young 
lady  entered  into  the  play  with  an  apparently 
absorbing  enthusiasm,  trilling  out  her  stage  laughs 
with  an  undeniable  clearness  and  flavor,  Dakotah 
noticed  in  her  conduct  at  other  times  a  singular 
gentleness  and  an  unaccustomed  consideration  for 
the  wishes  and  moods  of  others.  Now  the  majes 
tic  Dakotah,  as  we  know,  attributed  the  ever  even- 
running  of  the  great  world's  wheels  to  love  —  and 
I  fear  that  her  conception  of  love  was  largely 
bounded  by  the  emotions  of  her  honest  heart 
toward  Harry  Fortune.  Be  that  as  it  may,  she 


2/4  TOWHEAD. 

immediately  concluded,  and  rightly,  for  aught  I 
know  in  this  case,  that  Dick's  milder  nature  had 
been  awakened  by  the  magical  touch  of  an  earthly 
affection.  She  was  strengthened  in  this  belief  by 
the  astonishing  patience  with  which  Dick  now 
listened  to  her  glowing  and  heartfelt  confidences. 
She  believed  that  Dick  had  accepted  Gaylord. 

So,  lingering  a  little  in  Dick's  room  one  night  — 
"  I  am  glad,  dearest  Towhead,"  said  Dakotah,  with 
startling  irrelevancy  to  the  theme  they  had  just 
been  discussing  —  "  and  I  know  you  will  be  happy. 
You  shan't  say  a  word  to  me  about  it  until  you 
please.  I'm  just  as  glad  as  I  can  be  for  both  of 
you  —  but,  oh,  Dick,"  she  went  on,  in  a  tenderly 
bantering  tone  —  "  think  of  the  mighty  slain  !  And 
if  you'd  only  been  content  with  boys,  but  you 
brought  down  such  a  man,  such  a  great  big  man, 
Dick  darling !  Oh,  I'm  positively  sure  of  it.  I 
allude  to  Professor  Dane.  The  mark  of  the  fatal 
arrow  was  unmistakable.  I  saw ;  and  then  I 
watched  him,  you  know.  I  shall  never  forget  how 
he  used  to  look  at  you  in  class  sometimes.  I 
could  forgive  him  anything  until  he  began  to  skip 
around.  But  that  poor  man  loved  you  desperately,  — 
why,  Dick  !  Dick  BodurtJia  !  "  exclaimed  Dakotah, 


THE  STARRING    TOUR.  2/5 

rising,  with  an  accent  of  wonder  and  dismay, 
"  What  makes  you  look  so  deathly  pale  ? " 

"  I'm  tired,"  said  Dick,  shivering  nervously. 
Dick  was  in  bed.  Dakotah  went  to  her  and  put 
both  warm  arms  around  her.  It  made  Dick  think 
of  the  first  time  Dakotah  had  taken  her  into  those 
comforting  arms.  Dakotah  had  a  way  of  meeting 
and  encompassing  unknown  troubles  with  an  all- 
pervading  sympathy. 

"  Now,  of  whom  were  you  speaking  ? "  said 
Dick,  presently,  when  recovered,  with  a  careless 
air  of  trying  to  remember  which  did  vast  credit  to 
her  powers  as  an  actress. 

"  I  was  speaking  of  Professor  Dane,"  said 
Dakotah,  looking  at  Dick  with  great  directness. 

Dick  fearlessly  returned  the  gaze.  "And  you 
said  you  thought  he  was  in  love  with  me,"  said 
she. 

"I  know  it,"  said  Dakotah.  '"I  could  see  it, 
and  so  did  everybody  else  that  had  eyes." 

"  But  you  see  you  were  mistaken  for  once,  my 
dear,"  said  Dick,  rather  slowly  for  so  much  light 
ness  as  she  meant  to  convey  in  the  tone.  "  He  was 
engaged  to  Miss  Lawrence.  Kidds  told  me  so." 

"  Kidds  lied,  then,"  said  Dakotah,  with  unhesi' 


2/6  TOWHEAD. 

tating  simplicity  of  expression.  "  Miss  Lawrence 
was  always  trying  to  catch  him,  but  she  couldn't, 
and  Kidds^was  positively  demented  over  him,  and  she 
saw  that  he  liked  you,  and  so  she  told  you  that ! " 

"  Oh,  well,"  said  Dick,  wearily,  in  the  gentlest 
tone  one  could  conceive  of,  while  never  a  tear  came 
for  help  to  her  eyes  ;  "  it  isn't  of  much  conse 
quence  to  us  either  way,  my  Dakotah.  I  am  a 
great  bother  to  you,  Dakotah.  Kiss  me  good 
night." 

Dakotah  silently  kissed  Dick,  though  in  a  man 
ner  that  conveyed  a  world  of  meaning,  and  left  her. 
Outside  she  paused,  and  her  tragic  and  unwit 
nessed  action  was  inimitable.  "  I  see  !  I  see  it 
all !  "  said  Dakotah,  in  pantomimic  gestures.  "  It's 
perfectly  overwhelming !  Oh,  that  devilish  little 
Kidds  !  How  I  would  love  to  shake  her.  But 
who  would  ever  have  dreamed  of  it !  And  there's 
something  excruciatingly  divine  about  it,  too." 
Dakotah  closed  her  lips  with  an  emotion  and  re 
solve  too  great  for  further  expression,  and  pro 
ceeded  on  her  way. 

Dakotah  was  as  considerate  of  Dick's  proud 
nature  as  a  mother  might  be  of  a  child.  Yet  she 
could  not  heln  shedding  silent  tears  at  times 


THE  STARRING    TOUR.  277 

when  she  watched  the  girl  next  day ;  all  the  more 
for  the  unfaltering  lightness  and  gayety  of  Dick's 
manner. 

But  somehow  the  exhilaration  had  all  gone  out 
of  the  play  for  the  majestic  and  matronly  member 
of  the  company,  Dakotah.  Her  part,  to  which, 
though  faithfully  studied,  she  had  ever  been  obliged 
to  lend  large  powers  of  improvisation,  now  escaped 
her  utterly.  In  a  helpless  manner  her  mind  wan 
dered.  She  cared  not  how  soon  the  end  came  now. 

The  end  was  not  far  off.  That  very  day  came 
a  letter  to  Dakotah  —  and  how  came  any  blow  to 
the  beloved  Dakotah  but  delightfully! — a  letter 
from  her  father,  advising  her  that  if  she  would 
leave  her  strange  wanderings  and  come  home  to 
him  immediately,  immediately,  she  should  have  the 
desire  of  her  heart ;  she  should  have  Harry  For 
tune  for  a  husband  and  he  would  accept  him  as  a 
son. 

Now  Dakotah,  who  walked  by  faith,  though  so 
majestically,  rather  than  by  any  habit  of  acute  pen 
etration,  and  who,  though  she  had  not  feared  the 
end,  had  by  no  means  anticipated  this,  immedi 
ately  conceived  of  herself  as  having  carried  on  an 
exceedingly  shrewd  and  brilliant  line  of  policy. 


2/8  TOWHEAD. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  anything  like  it  —  how  beau 
tifully  I've  brought  pa  'round?"  said  she,  in  a 
tone  of  elated  confidence,  to  Dick.  Then,  in  the 
midst  of  her  own  happiness,  another  thought  came 
across  her,  and  she  looked  toward  her  friend  with 
an  impulsive  longing  and  with  tears  shining  in 
her  eyes.  "  Oh,  my  poor,  sweet  darling  ! "  she 
exclaimed,  softly, 

Dick  deftly  avoided  the  tender  apology,  and 
Dakotah  wisely  returned  to  the  happy  recital  of 
her  own  affairs,  delighted  at  finding  Dick,  in  spite 
of  all,  such  a  cheerful  and  sympathetic  listener. 

But  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  in  Dakotah's 
case  the  call  of  love  had  proved  superior  to  the 
more  exalted  claim  of  art.  The  starring  tour  was 
at  an  end.  It  was  at  an  end,  indeed.  Later  in 
the  day  a  card  was  brought  to  Miss  Bodurtha  — 
the  "  Hon.  B.  J.  Higgins." 

Dick  met  her  guardian  in  the  hotel  parlors.  He 
was  smiling,  affable  —  congratulated  her  on  her 
charming  appearance,  and,  in  soft,  laughing  tones, 
on  her  brilliant  theatrical  success.  He  regretted 
that  he  could  not  see  the  performance,  but  his 
affairs  made  it  imperatively  necessary  for  him  to 
start  for  home  on  the  morrow.  Of  course  she 


THE  STARRING    TOUR.  279 

would  be  ready  to  accompany  him.  "At  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  my  dear.  Good-night." 

Gaylord  met  Dick  as  she  came  out.  "  Smash- 
up?"  said  he,  interrogatively,  thrusting  his  hands 
in  his  pockets. 

"A  smash-up,"  Dick  assented. 

"Complete,  eh  ?"  said  Gaylord. 

"A  very  complete  smash-up,"  said  Dick,  who 
liked  this  odd,  honest  friend  of  hers  immensely. 

"When  arejw/  flying?"  said  Gaylord. 

"  To-morrow  morning,"  said  Dick. 

Gaylord  puckered  his  mouth  in  a  long,  noiseless 
whistle.  "I've  enjoyed  this  thing,"  said  he;  "but 
I  took  it  up  just  for  a  recreation,  a  gallop,  you 
know.  I've  had  my  gallop  and  now  I  am  all  ready 
to  jump  off." 

"I  think  that's  the  way  we  all  feel  about  it," 
said  Dick — "only  we  shall  be  separated  so  far. 
Dakotah  and  I  are  not  going  back  to  school.  We 
are  going  to  our  homes,  ever  and  ever  so  far  away 
from  each  other,  and  from  the  Three  Lakes." 

Gaylord  fixed  his  mouth  in  another  noiseless 
whistle.  "  One  thing  I  thought  of  when  we  set 
out  on  this  expedition,"  he  said,  "was  that  I 
should  like  to  get  acquainted  with  you  particularly. 


280  TOWHEAD. 

I  thought  if  we  liked  each  other  we  might  get 
engaged  on  this  trip.  I  like  you  confoundedly,  but 
I've  watched  girls  enough  to  know  that  whoever 
you're  likely  to  think  of,  in  a  marrying  sense,  you 
know — it  ain't  me." 

"  I  do  like  you,  my  good  friend,"  said  Dick 
earnestly,  "with  all  my  heart.  But  no,"  she  added 
quietly,  "I  never  shall  marry.  I  never  shall  marry 
anybody." 

"  Nonsense  !"  said  Gaylord,  laughing.  "That'll 
make  a  capital  joke  on  you  sometime,"  he  con 
tinued,  reflectively,  as  if  laying  it  up  in  his 
memory.  "  But  we've  all  got  to  come  to  it,  that  is, 
pretty  nearly  all,  and  it's  the  best  thing.  I  mean 
to  get  through  with  this  college  nonsense,  and 
marry  sometime  before  a  great  while,  and  when  I 
get  a  home  of  my  own,  I  bet  a  box  of  gloves  you'll 
come  with  another  fellow  to  see  me  some  time." 

The  "company"  satiate  in  their  private  parlor 
that  night,  over  their  farewell  talk.  Gaylord  put 
his  mind  to  it  and  made  a  business  of  talking.  He 
was  practical  and  hopeful  for  all. 

Since  he  had  heard  of  the  new  course  events 
were  taking  Furnival  had  said  little.  He  sat  on 
an  ottoman  at  Dick's  feet.  While  the  others 


THE   STARRING    TOUR.  28 1 

planned  and  talked,  his  head  fell  back  gradually 
and  rested  against  Dick's  knees.  She  stroked  his 
hair  with  as  purely  thoughtful  a  caress  as  a  sister 
might  give  a  brother. 

Gaylord  watched  the  action.  Amidst  the  haste 
and  excitement  of  getting  off  in  the  morning  he 
drew  Dick  aside  for  a  moment.  "  Don't  you  ever 
worry  about  Furnival,"  said  he.  "  I  shall  keep  an 
eye  on  him.  They'll  take  me  back  at  the  Univer 
sity,  and  if  they  take  me,  they  shall  him.  He 
shall  go  through  college  and  have  a  good  chance 
afterwards." 

Dick  gave  Gaylord  her  hand  for  gratitude.  She 
looked  him  frankly  in  the  eyes.  Gaylord  knew 
then  that,  whoever  Dick  was  likely  to  think  of  "  in 
a  marrying  sense,"  it  was  not  Furnival. 

At  the  leave-taking  with  Dakotah,  Dick  was 
impressed  by  something  mysterious  and  deter 
mined  in  that  noble  creature's  conduct,  and  which 
bore  her  up  under  circumstances,  where,  otherwise, 
her  ardent  and  affectionate  nature  would  have 
been  dissolved  in  a  torrent  of  tears.  The  last 
glimpse  Dick  had  of  her  she  was  still  standing, 
pale  and  composed,  with  an  unspeakable  resolve 
imprinted  on  her  firmly  closed  lips. 


282  TOWHEAD. 

Dick  listened  to  her  garrulous  guardian  without 
any  attempt  to  conceal  her  weariness  or  her 
dejection.  Only  once,  when  he  intimated  that  his 
influence  would  prove  sufficient  to  shield  her 
wholly  from  her  aunt's  natural  displeasure,  Dick 
gave  vent  to  an  expression  of  such  sublime  scorn 
for  such  championship  and  such  displeasure,  as 
amused  him  mightily. 

Poor  Dick !  the  clattering  car-wheels  did  not 
make  noise  enough,  nor  drive  fast  enough,  to 
drown  the  tumult  in  her  heart  and  brain.  Away! 
away!  from  the  last  bitter  entanglement  in  life's 
distracting  play.  What  next  awaited  her?  So 
young,  and  yet  to  believe  it  all  an  old,  aimless  story. 
Away !  away !  ever  farther  away  from  the  sunny 
lakes  which  had  opened  like  mysterious  heaven  and 
love  to  her,  only  now  forever  to  repeat  their 
restless  storm  surges  in  her  heart.  Ever  farther 
away  —  as  if,  after  so  many  miles,  she  might 
forget. 


EXCELLUNA^S  LAST  REVELATION.      283 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

EXCELLUNA'S  LAST  REVELATION. 

f 

"\TEVER  had  Mrs.  Bodurtha  been  so  kind  to  her 
wandering  niece.  The  starring  tour,  one 
would  naturally  suppose,  must  have  dealt  her  a 
consummate  blow  ;  yet  there  was  no  reproach, 
aversion,  nor  despair  in  her  manner. 

This  caused  Dick  to  reason  busily  and  not  with 
out  some  ground  for  suspicion.  She  wondered 
what  new  plan  had  been  settled  upon  for  the 
disposal  of  so  desperate  a  character  as  herself ; 
whether  she  was,  indeed,  to  be  returned  to  the 
native  heathen,  or  immured  in  a  convent,  or  sent 
to  a  lunatic  asylum,  labelled  as  dangerous  and  a 
candidate  for  the  strait-jacket,  so  tenderly  and 
almost  enthusiastically  affectionate  had  her  aunt's 
manner  become  toward  her  of  late,  and  so  adula 
tory  and  fond  the  conduct  of  her  guardian.  When 
the  calm  secret  of  these  two  was  disclosed,  Dick 
regarded  them  as  smiling  fiends,  and  the  convent 
or  the  strait-jacket  as  tolerable  in  comparison. 


284  TOWHEAD. 

As  for  her  occupation  in  these  days,  Dick 
danced.  Mrs.  Bodurtha  and  Mr.  Higgins  had  no 
notion  of  making  a  temporary  penitent  or  recluse 
of  their  prodigal ;  their  attempts  in  that  direction 
had  ever  met  with  such  a  fatal  result.  The  story 
of  her  last  digression  was  known  in  the  distin 
guished  circles  in  which  they  moved,  but  it  was 
not  incompatible  even  with  Mrs.  Bodurtha's  sense 
of  truth  and  justice,  which  smacked  considerably 
of  religion,  that  Dick's  grace  and  beauty  should 
well  carry  off  her  misdemeanors  in  the  eyes  of 
a  discerning  world  ;  while  the  guardian  insisted 
that  a  quality  of  sweet  iniquity  in  so  charming  a 
subject  was  positively  indispensable. 

So  the  end  being  devised  and  assured  in  the 
minds  of  the  two,  they  gave  the  butterfly,  mean 
while,  a  sumptuous  field  in  which  to  flutter  and 
dazzle.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  gay  season. 
The  society  in  which  Dick  so  freely  dallied  through 
the  prestige  afforded  by  her  guardian  was  notably 
of  the  opulent,  banqueting,  ball-giving  sort.  Dick 
dazzled,  feasted,  sipped  her  wine,  danced — danced 
as  though  a  light  and  careless  heart  were  in  every 
radiant  motion  ;  rose  late,  and  dressed,  and  ban 
queted,  and  danced  again.  The  aunt  and  guar- 


EXCELLUNA^S  LAST  REVELATION.      285 

dian  smiled  at  this  tireless  dancer  for  pleasure's 
sake.  My  poor  Dick  danced  more  tirelessly  than  one 
who  dances  for  pleasure.  She  danced  to  forget. 

One  festive  night  the  doors  of  the  guardian's 
great  house  on  the  avenue  were  thrown  open  to 
the  world's  elect.  It  was  an  affair  of  memorable 
lustre  and  magnificence,  a  dream  of  splendor — the 
lofty  luxurious  rooms,  the  brilliant  lights,  strains 
of  gay,  sensuous  music,  the  glitter  of  gold  and 
silver  plate,  the  noiseless  waiting  of  many  servants, 
the  breath  of  tropical  fruit  and  flowers. 

In  the  midst  of  the  worldly  elect,  a  shining 
mark  for  envious  or  admiring  eyes  ;  in  the  midst  of 
the  gay  waltzers,  most  courted  ;  in  motion  most 
inspiring  of  all,  with  a  flush  on  her  cheeks  and  a 
brightness  too  fitful  in  her  eyes,  Dick  danced. 
Her  laugh,  peculiar,  heedless,  but  sweetly  modu 
lated,  when  it  crept  out  in  the  room  made  a 
sensation  for  circles  round.  Her  aunt  watched 
her  with  secret,  unalloyed  delight  and  approval. 
It  was  even  a  satisfaction  to  her  to  think,  that, 
whatever  hinderances  they  had  met  with  hitherto  in 
the  training  of  their  charge,  she  had  now  no 
objections  to  offer  to  her  wise  guardian's  plans  in 
the  shape  of  a  heart. 


286  TOWHEAD. 

"  It  used  to  trouble  me,"  Mrs.  Bodurtha  mused 
— "the  girl's  heartlessness — but  we  cannot  expect 
deep  emotion  in  the  young,  and  it  has,  at  least, 
prevented  her  from  running  into  any  ludicrous 
love  fancies.  It  is  excellent,  on  the  whole.  When 
her  guardian  proposes  to  her,  she  may  be  a  little 
startled  at  first ;  but,  as  he  states  the  case  to 
her,  she  will  at  once  see  its  wisdom  and  appropri 
ateness.  She  will  accept  her  good  fortune  and 
settle  down  in  life." 

Mrs.  Bodurtha  gazed  at  the  unbounded  splendor 
shortly  to  be  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  careless  vvaltzer 
there  in  its  midst,  and  a  sigh  escaped  her,  express 
ive  of  relief  and  of  gratitude  to  Providence,  who, 
from  so  hopeless  a  beginning,  had  brought  about 
such  satisfactory  and  distinguished  results. 

In  a  pause  of  the  music,  the  smiling  and  gracious 
lord  of  these  stately  halls  drew  near  to  his  young 
ward. 

"  Ah,  you  must  rest  a  moment,"  he  said.  "  Come 
and  see  my  mountain  of  roses  yonder.  Ah," 
he  murmured,  as  Dick  put  her  hand  in  his  arm, 
"  it  is  my  desire  to  make  your  life  always,  ahvays 
summer,  my  dear." 

"  Don't,"  said  Dick,  laughing,  shortly,    flushed 


EXCELLUNA^S  LAST  REVELATION.     287 

and  breathless,  "I  should  die,  I  should  suffo 
cate." 

"  Not  if  you  would  learn  to  rest,"  said  the  bland 
guardian.  "  Not  if  you  would  throw  off  all  your 
young  doubt  and  impatience  and  disquietude  upon 
an  older  heart,  and  be  content — well,"  said  the 
guardian,  smiling,  "be  content  with  all  that  the 
world  can  give  you." 

Dick  forgot  her  fear  for  an  instant,  and  gazed 
directly  at  her  guardian.  The  guardian,  amusedly 
conscious  of  the  piquancy  of  the  stare,  kept  his 
composed  face  half-turned  away  from  her. 

"  Do  you  not  admire  my  fragrant  little  Hima 
laya?"  he  said,  as  they  stood  amid  the  bower  of 
roses.  "  It  happens  to  be  quiet  here.  I  shall  not 
detain  you  but  a  moment.  I  have  concluded,  my 
dear,  that  I  am  not  competent  to  be  your  guardian. 
I  endeavored  to  wield  the  reins  of  authority  with 
great  discretion  and  firmness,  and  how  lamentable 
my  failure  is  known  to  none  better  than  to  yourself. 
I  propose,  therefore,  to  submit  the  reins  wholly, 
uncomplainingly,  and  unreservedly  to  the  guidance 
of  your  own  sweet  hands,  claiming  only  the  right 
to  be  your  humble  and  devoted  servant  henceforth, 
I  propose,  in  short,  to  be  your  husband" 


288  TOWHEAD. 

Dick,  replying  to  the  soft  sophistry  of  this  ad 
dress  with  an  ever-increasing  wonder  and  intent- 
ness  of  expression,  the  guardian  continued  : — 

"I  will  say  briefly  at  this  moment  —  it  is  a 
matter  to  which  I  wish  you  never  to  give  a  second 
thought ;  —  the  property  left  you  by  your  parents, 
owing  to  some  business  indiscretions  on  the  part  of 
your  father  just  preceding  his  death,  is  hardly 
sufficient,  as  an  independent  fortune,  for  a  young 
lady  of  your  habits  and  tastes.  In  short,  it  is 
small  —  quite  small.  But  why  do  I  speak  of  this  ? 
I  share  no  wealth  apart  from  you.  My  house, 
my  horses,  my  servants,  they  are  all  yours.  My 
undivided  fortune  lies  at  your  feet.  You  have 
simply  to  accept  of  it.  Your  aunt  approves  of  my 
purpose.  I  may  say  indeed,"  said  the  guardian, 
lowering  his  smooth  tone  to  a  whisper  of  blandish 
ment,  "that  she  waits  at  this  very  moment  to 
congratulate  me.  Shall  I  wend  my  steps  towards 
her?  You  have  carried  a  high  hand,  my  dear,"  he 
continued,  with  a  slight  accent  of  hardness.  "  It 
is  probably  the  decisive  moment  in  which  it  is  well 
for  you  to  obey  for  once.  All  the  rest  of  your  life 
shall  be  happy.  I  am  old  and  profess  no  senti 
ment.  You,  though  young,  are  quite  as  devoid  of 


EXCELLUNA'S  LAST  REVELATION.      289 

it,  I  fancy.  Accept  quietly  the  wise  course.  It  is 
indeed  no  trouble.  Your  life  shall  have  never 
a  care." 

The  hot  color  which  had  faded  out  of  Dick's 
cheeks  as  she  listened  came  back  to  them  again. 
She  laughed  through  her  white  teeth  with  a 
sweet,  defiant  madness.  "  So  this  is  what  you  and 
my  aunt  have  been  planning!"  she  said.  "You 
do  well  to  try  to  frighten  me.  I  am  so  suscepti 
ble  to  that  method." 

"  Oh,  no,  no !  "  said  the  guardian,  reassuringly. 
"  Not  to  frighten  you  ;  only  to  secure,  if  you  would 
calmly  think  of  it  a  moment,  your  welfare  and 
happiness." 

"  But  if  I  don't  like  you  !  If  I  never,  never  could 
care  for  you  so  much,  do  you  want  me  to  marry 
you  ?  "  said  Dick. 

"  I  said  I  professed  no  sentiment,"  replied  the 
guardian,  smiling. 

"And  why  —  why  —  do  you  think  me  so  —  so 
inhuman?"  cried  Dick,  in  a  low  tone,  passion 
ately. 

"  Merely  a  necessity,  my  dear,"  calmly  replied 
the  voice  of  soft  blandishment;  "a  necessity  in 
the  case  of  one  so  beautiful.  Do  not  trouble  your- 


290  TOW  HE  AD. 

self  about  it.  It  is  a  law  of  nature  and  cannot  be 
avoided." 

Dick  did  not  hear.  Her  insulted  soul  rose  with 
uncontrollable  torrent  force  to  quivering  lip  and 
flashing  eye.  "Hush,  then! — I  w///  tell  you," 
she  saifl.  "  I  did  care  for  some  one !  I  care  for 
him  now  !  I  love  him.  I  love  him  with  all  my 
wretched,  worthless  heart.  He  did  not  think  so 
much  of  happiness ;  he  would  have  helped  me 
to  be  strong  and  true.  But  I  sJwuld  have  been 
happy  with  him  —  oh,  whether  poor  or  rich,  in 
comfort  or  misery,  I  do  not  care !  If  he  made 
me  sorry,  I  should  know  he  was  kind.  If  he  put  a 
knife  to  my  throat,  I  would  trust  him !  Can  you 
realize  it  ?  Did  he  love  me  ?  I  cannot  believe  it ! 
He  was  too  good.  -  If  he  did  once  he  never  could 
after  what  happened.  But  that  doesn't  help  me. 
I  can't  forget,  and  it  is  killing  me  !  It  is  killing 
me  !  Do  you  want  me  to  marry  yon,  now  ?  " 

"  So  you  have  had  the  illusion,  too ! "  said 
the  guardian,  soothingly.  "  And  that  is  a  positive 
relief  to  me,  do  you  know ;  for  they  say,  however 
we  are  constituted,  it  possesses  us  at  some  time  in 
our  lives,  and  I  am  glad  to  know  that  the  worst  of 
yours  is  over.  Attacking  you  perchance  after 


EXCELLUNA^S  LAST  REVELATION.      291 

marriage,  and  taking  some  violent  and  unfortunate 
direction,  it  might  prove  especially  troublesome. 
I  assure  you,  my  dear  child,  the  worst  stage  is 
over ;  it  will  not  bore  you  long.  I  propose  a 
foreign  tour.  You  shall  see  some  magical  islands. 
You  shall  buy  a  castle  in  Spain,  if  you  choose !  — 
I  have  not  answered  your  question.  Certainly ; 
you  interpret  my  meaning  with  great  acuteness. 
I  desire  to  have  you  marry  me." 

"  It  would  be  to  me,"  said  Dick,  still  with  tower 
ing  emotion,  "  like  giving  up  the  last  spark  of 
truth  and  honesty  in  my  heart,  the  last  pure 
aspiration,  the  last  faith  in  God,  the  last  —  the  last 
hope  in  my  life.  It  would  be  to  me  like  stretching 
myself  out  on  that  heap  of  faint,  sickening  roses 
to  die,  body  and  soul !  That  is  what  your  happi 
ness  means  to  me !  I  have  seen  enough  to  know. 
It  would  be  horrible  stagnation  and  death  !  Do 
you  want  me  to  marry  you  now  ?  " 

"  Naturally,  my  dear,"  said  the  guardian,  smil 
ing,  with  unruffled  temper,  "since  I  have  never 
seen  you  so  beautiful  in  my  life.  Your  stage  air  is 
wonderfully  becoming.  As  I  said,  the  malady 
is  short-lived.  It  may  pass  away  entirely  with 
this  charming  confession.  I  repeat  ;  my  untiring 


292  TOWHEAD. 

devotion   and   my  fortune   are   yours.     Reflect   a 
moment  calmly.     Shall  I  go  to  your  aunt,  now  ? " 

Dick  laughed  as  she  had  laughed  at  first,  sweet 
ly,  madly.  The  music  of  the  waltz  struck  up 
again.  Her  partner  came  towards  her.  "  Wait !  " 
she  said,  airily,  to  her  guardian  "  one  more  waltz  ! 
Oh,  indeed  I  will  reflect  calmly  —  as  calmly  as  one 
can  who  is  so  Jiappy,  you  know."  The  low  ripple  of 
her  voice  smote  mockingly  on  his  ears.  "  Wait !  " 
she  smiled  back  at  him,  as  she  swept  away. 

"  A  perverse  little  devil,  indeed  !  "  he  muttered. 
But  he  believed  the  butterfly  had  been  caught  in 
his  web,  nevertheless.  He  was  suavely  content. 

Dick's  brain  swam.  She  adapted  impromptu 
lines  to  the  swift  music  as  she  waltzed.  "  It  is  the 
most  wretched  and  desperate  thing  I  could  do.  I 
am  wretched  and  desperate.  It  is  my  fate  ;  I  will 
do  it  !  I  may  not  live  long.  One  could  kill  her 
self  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two.  He  can  sac 
rifice  me  so  easily  !  I  will  torment  him  something 
as  he  deserves.  I  will  assume  that  I  have  affec 
tions  ;  I  will  bestow  them  where  I  choose.  A  short 
life  and  a  merry  one.  I  can  forget,  maybe,  when 
I  am  bad  enough.  I  will  go  down  in  billows  of 
luxury." 


EXCELLUNA'S  LAST  REVELATION.      293 

The  guests  were  departing.  Dick  had  not 
returned  to  her  guardian.  She  had  seen  him 
conversing  smilingly  with  her  aunt.  One  or  two 
of  the  older  and  most  intimate  acquaintances  in 
the  company  even  hinted  their  congratulations  ere 
they  went  away.  "  Thank  you,"  said  Dick,  to  one 
worldly  and  jewelled  matron,  who  was  gushingly 
going  through  with  this  ceremony;  "I  am  very 
happy,  I  assure  you."  The  mocking  bitterness 
contained  in  her  politely  modulated  tones,  the 
strange  glitter  of  her  eyes,  puzzled  the  matron 
beyond  measure. 

"  Pardon,  miss,"  said  a  servant,  handing  Dick  a 
letter.  It  was  a  strange  letter  to  be  taken,  in  the 
midst  of  all  that  glitter  and  luxury,  into  so  white 
and  soft  a  hand,  —  a  soiled,  unfashionable  sheet, 
bearing  an  air  of  long  preservation  ;  a  grotesque, 
faltering,  ignorant  hand-writing. 

"  Ever  and  a  darlin'  orphing  lamb,  I  cannot 
write  much,  for  they  say  as  I  am  a  dyin',  and  the 
days  is  short,  they  say.  I  care  not,  ever  darlin',  I 
am  a  dyin'  along  o'  God. 

"But  I  hear  you  comin'  down  the  walk,  and  I 
raise  myself  up  to  meet  you,  and  I  look,  and  it's 
only  the  dead  leaves  a  drivin'  and  a  whisperin' 
down  the  walk. 


294  TOWHEAD. 

"  But  if  I  should  look  up,  mebbe  next  day,  and 
should 'see  you,  ever  clarlin',  comin'  down  the  walk  — 
I  ask  not  for  myself,  though  lovin'  unto  death,  but 
because  my  thoughts  was  troubled  concerning 
you  —  it  seems  as  though  it  would  make  sech  a 
stillness,  ever  darlin',  along  the  sorrerful  road." 

The  butterfly  was  fairly  caught :  "  Let  her  go 
and  see  the  old  servant  die,  if  she  wishes,"  said  the 
guardian.  "After  all,  it  is  a  charming  ruse." 
Dick's  manner  of  stating  her  intention  had 
had  a  strange  and  desperately  quiet  determination 
about  it. 

Excelluna  looked  down  the  walk  at  last  and  saw 
the  darling  of  her  heart.  Then  she  lay  back  smil 
ing,  content,  upon  her  bed  for  many  hours.  Dick, 
in  her  plain,  black  travelling  dress,  her  hair 
arranged  with  religious  simplicity,  moved  noise 
lessly,  thoughtfully,  about  the  room.  Excelluna 
watched  her  and  a  look  of  solemn  significance 
crept  over  her  face. 

"  It  has  come,"  she  said. 

Dick  lifted  her  bright  eyes  with  a  tender,  half- 
smiling  inquiry. 

"The  tonin'  up  and  the  tonin'  down,  as  was 
both  thought  on,  and  was  both  despaired  on,"  said 


EXCELLUNA1  S  LAST  REVELATION.      295 

Excelluna ;  "  they  have  been  accomplished.  Some 
how,  though  liow,  unbeknownst,  mebbe,  to  all,  they 
have  been  accomplished." 

Dick  laughed  softly,  though  her  lips  quivered : 
"  I  am  always  good  with  you,  Luny,  you  know." 

"  It  do  not  appear  as  though  it  had  been  eddi- 
cation,  in  a  gineral  sense,  as  have  done  it,"  said 
Excelluna ;  "  since  all  sech  as  was  tried  in  a  gineral 
way  was  despaired  on.  But  through  wildness  and 
danger,  through  failin's  and  wanderin's,  somehow 
it  have  been  accomplished.  It  have  been  wonder 
ful  accomplished. 

"  It  do  appear  somehow,"  Excelluna  went  on, 
"  to  have  left  a  sadness  and  as  of  a  bein'  tired  and 
of  a  bein'  lost  (which  well  I  know,  havin'  suffered 
them,  most  darlin'  one).  But  fear  not,  for,  as  I  have 
been  a  lyin'  here,  in  a  revelation  I  have  seen 

"  In  a  revelation  I  have  seen,"  said  Excelluna, 
solemnly.  "You  will  hear  the  dead  leaves  rustlin', 
for  the  wind  a  moanin'  through  'em — and  you  will 
stand  watch  in'  the  golding  light,  afur  down  in  the 
meadows,  where  the  grass  is  green  and  tender  as 
the  spring  time,  darlin'  one.  You  will  watch  the 
shinin'  road  a  lyin'  there,  and  a  leadin'  up  beyend  the 
mountings,  and  beyend.  Peace  and  love  and  joy 


296  TOWHEAD. 

shall  come  to  you,  most  darlin'  one.  We  are  chil- 
dern  wanderin',  but  the  way  shall  not  be  lost. 
Fear  not.  To  sech  as  is  given  revelations,  it  is 
knowa,;  and  in  a  revelation  I  have  seen."  Poor 
Luny  !  But  she  had  always  wandered  in  her  mind. 

Dick  was  so  patient,  so  womanly-tender,  and 
thoughtful  in  that  humble  sick-room,  anticipating 
every  want  of  the  ancient  serving-woman,  stroking 
so  soothingly  the  poor  gray  head,  her  old  com 
panions  of  the  dance  would  scarcely  have  known 
the  girl. 

It  seemed  to  my  poor  lass  as  though  a  little 
surcease  had  come  in  the  storm,  a  breathing-space, 
mysterious,  grateful,  sad. 

"  Nay,"  she  said,  in  answer  to  some  anxious 
remonstrance  of  Excelluna's,  with  whom  she  was 
watching  through  the  night,  "  let  me,  dear  Luny. 
You  are  happy.  I  have  not  been  so  glad,  I  have 
not  had  such  rest  for  months  and  months." 

As  the  young  girl  spoke  thus  with  strange 
eagerness,  Excelluna  lifted  her  eyes  to  look  at  her. 
"  Do  not  fear,"  she  said  quietly.  "  In  a  revelation, 
I  have  seen."  She  lay  back,  satisfied,  for  that 
golden  hair,  the  touch  of  that  soft  hand,  were 
heaven  to  her. 


EXCELLUNA'S  LAST  REVELATION.      297 

And  so  the  sorrowful  mystery  of  life  faded  from 
before  Excelluna's  eyes. 

"  It  is  like  as  when  I  have  been  into  some  great, 
grand  church  in  the  city,"  said  she,  "and  have  heerd 
the  organ  playin',  clear  and  solemn,  but  mistractful, 
not  bein'  understood.  And  I  have  listened  to 
them  strains,  that  seemed  a  wanderin'  here  and 
there,  and  have  been  troubled.  And  then  at  the 
end,  I  have  heerd  it  creepin'  out,  so  beautiful,  the 
old  tune  that  I  knew.  And  I  have  knowed  that  it 
was  the  same  tune  a  runnin'  through  it  all,  but  my 
ears  was  not  trained  high  enough  to  understand. 

"  Ever  darlin',  weak  and  wanderin'  has  seemed 
my  life,  sad  and  mistractful,  not  bein'  understood. 
But  now  the  music  creeps  down  soft  and  slow.  I 
listen  and  I  cannot  cry,  most  darlin'  one,  for  I  have 
ketched  the  tune." 

As  Dick  watched,  strangely  unwearied,  through 
the  hours  of  the  night  and  day,  Excelluna's  flesh 
sank  swiftly  down  into  the  dark  valley  ;  but  the 
brave  heart  never  realized  that,  nor  could  have 
given  to  it  a  thought  nor  a  tear. 

And,  on  the  third  day,  awaking  from  a  sleep  in 
which  her  face  had  worn  a  sublime,  untroubled 
expression,  and  her  lips  had  moved :  "  Bring  to  me," 


298  TOWHEAD. 

she  said,  "  my  flowers  that  I  have  made — all ;  let 
not  one  be  left." 

When  she  beheld  them,  she  laughed  with  soft, 
pitiful  disdain.  "  They  must  be  put  by,"  she  said. 
"  I  cannot  look  upon  them,  darlin'  one,  by  the  side 
of  sech  flowers  as  has  been  revealed.  Take  them 
away.  They  have  answered  their  turn.  These 
things  must  be  put  by." 

Thus  Excelluna  had  brought  to  her,  one  after 
another,  the  treasures  once  pricelessly  dear  to  her 
heart,  and  smiled,  and  put  them  by. 

On  the  "Book  of  Martyrs"  she  laid  her  hand 
lightly.  "  Yis,  put  it  by,"  she  said.  "  It's  only  a 
poor,  sorrerful,  half-told  story  !  It  is  not  worth 
recordin'  by  the  side  of  sech  things  as  .is  re 
vealed." 

"  Ever  and  a  darlin'  one,"  said  Excelluna,  then, 
with  a  look  of  clear  solemnity ;  "  have  I  been  a 
poor,  forlorn  creetur,  without  no  home  nor  kin, 
lonely  and  wanderin',  weepin'  and  sorrerful,  and 
oft  mistracted  ? " 

Dick  bowed  her  head,  laying  both  her  hands 
with  unspeakable  tenderness  on  the  gaunt  palms 
of  the  ancient  serving-woman. 

"  Have  I  been  sech  ? "  repeated  Excelluna,  in 


EXCELLUNA1  S  LAST  REVELATION.      299 

that  tone  of  clear  solemnity.  "  It  is  put  by.  It  is 
forgot,  forevermore.  Help  me  up,  most  darlin' 
one." 

Dick  raised  the  wasted  form  up  on  the  pillows. 
Through  her  far-offs  Excelluna  looked  towards 
the  hills.  But  for  once  those  spectacles,  those 
dear  mediums  of  vision,  seemed  to  obstruct  her 
yearning  sight.  It  was  the  last  poor  tie,  yielded 
exultantly. 

"Put  them  by!"  she  softly  cried,  "/  can  see 
afur  off  without  tJicm  !  " 

They  who  look  so  glad  and  far  as  Excelluna 
looked  then  come  never  to  the  earth  again.  But 
then,  she  did  not  die.  My  Dick,  who  sat  beside 
her,  says  that  she  never  died.  Turning  for  her 
great-heartedness,  in  that  last  supreme  moment,  to 
bless  the  sorrowing  head  beside  her,  it  was  not  the 
lustre  of  my  Dick's  golden  hair  that  she  saw,  but 
the  dawning  ripple  of  waves  on  an  eternal  shore. 

Dick  stood  under  the  elm-trees  watching  the 
golden  light  far  down  in  the  meadows.  The  wind 
rustled  in  the  dead  leaves  ;  but  there  the  grass 
was  green  and  tender  as  the  spring-time.  She 
saw,  too,  the  shining  road  leading  towards  the 


300  TOWHEAD. 

mountains  and  beyond.  But  Dick  did  not  think  of 
the  "revelation." 

In  the  last  few  days  she  had  lived  of  life  a  year 
or  more.  It  seemed  to  her,  in  that  quiet  hour, 
that,  like  Excelluna,  she  could  leave  the  pitiful  past 
behind  her. 

"  I  will  be  brave  and  true,"  Dick  prayed.  "I 
will  not  think  of  happiness  any  more.  I  will  be 
obedient  to  my  aunt  and  guardian,  except  in  that 
wicked  thing.  I  will  do  anything  for  them.  I  will 
live  for  them ;  but  I  will  be  true  to  the  faith  and 
goodness  in  my  heart.  If  they  do  not  want  me 
except  I  do  that)  then,"  said  Dick,  "  I  will  try  to 
take  care  of  myself.  I  will  work  with  all  my  might. 
But  I  will  be  true 

"  If  I  could  only  have  known,"  said  Dick, 
"  whether  he  cared  !  If  he  could  only  know  that  I 
am  trying — trying  for  his  sake — and  though  I 
have  been  so  bad,  I  might,  in  time " 

Dick  trembled,  and  lifted  her  eyes  to  the  hills 
again.  "Oh,  I  will  try,"  she  said.  "I  thought, 
when  she  died,  I  should  stop  thinking  so  much 
about  my  own  happiness.  I  can  !  I  can  give  it  all 
up,  as  she  did,  and  be  brave  and  patient  and  true." 
Dick  watched  the  marvellous  roadway  fading  slowly 


EXCELLUNA'S  LAST  REVELATION.      301 

in  the  west.  "  It  is  only  a  little  time  for  any  of 
us,"  she  moaned.  But  Dick  had  forgotten  the 
revelation. 

Down  the  path  among  the  elm-trees,  one  was 
coming  to  meet  her.  It  was  what  meant  peace 
and  love  and  joy  in  all  the  world  to  Dick.  It  was 
the  Dane  coming  down  that  old  familiar  path  at 
Dymsbury  Park. 

So  intently,  in  her  deep  young  despair,  Dick 
stood  looking  away  to  the  west  she  did  not  heed 
the  rustling  that  his  feet  made  in  the  leaves. 
But  when  she  turned  at  last  and  saw  him,  the 
world  that  she  had  given  up  wrapped  itself  about 
her  in  such  sudden  tumultuous  surges  of  trembling 
hope  and  joy;  she  stood  so  pale  and  startled,  the 
vanquished  pride  in  her  eyes  pleading  through 
a  look  of  such  reproach  —  pleading  desperately 
for  compassion,  I  think  she  would  have  fallen. 
The  Dane  was  compassionate.  He  caught  her. 
His  whispered  words  of  tenderness  and  love 
allayed  her  fears.  On  his  breast,  for  the  pitiless 
joy  that  had  almost  broken  her  heart  my  Dick 
learned  how  to  cry  at  last. 

"  He  came  clear  from  the  setting  sun  to  find 
me."  Thus  Dick  tells  the  story,  and  blushes  still, 


302  TOWHEAD. 

and  will  laugh  for  you  sweetly  as  ever,  as  she  says 
it ;  but  with  a  little  half-tearful,  defiant  flash  in  her 
eyes  that  bids  you  not  to  ask  for  more.  ^.Q  found 
her  and  he  kept  her  forevermore.  As  boldly 
as  the  viking  of  old,  he  carried  her  to  his  tower  by 
the  Three  Lakes. 

It  was  long  before  Mrs.  Bodurtha  was  recon 
ciled.  Mr.  Higgins  smiled  as  suavely  as  ever,  and 
ultimately  bestowed  his  fortune  upon  a  more 
deserving  subject.  Mrs.  Bodurtha's  own  wealth 
was  great,  but  the  loss  of  the  smiling  Croesus  to  her 
family  seemed  irreparable.  But  when  Dick's  hus 
band  made  a  great  name  in  the  land  —  and, 
among  women,  there  was  none  more  womanly, 
more  gentle,  radiant,  and  beloved  than  Dick  her 
self,  and  her  young  children  were  bright  and 
beautiful  about  her  —  Mrs.  Bodurtha  gradually  in 
clined  to  be  conciliatory.  Finally,  she  was  accus 
tomed  to  say  with  great  complacency,  folding  her 
cold  and  jewelled  hands  one  over  the  other,  as 
people  spoke  admiringly  of  her  niece  :  — 

"Ah,  yes! — /  was  intrusted  with  her  early 
training,  you  know.  It  was  a  great  responsibility, 
but  I  have  never  been  sorry  that  I  undertook  it." 
And  the  good  lady  gives  a  long  sigh  as  she  sur 
veys  the  rich  gems  on  her  fingers. 


EXCELLUNAS  LAST  REVELATION.      303 

Ah,  well !  Much  goes  to  make  up  an  education. 
Mrs.  Bodurtha,  too,  had  her  share.  But  it  is  not 
of  that  that  Dick  thinks  in  the  supreme  moments  of 
her  womanhood's  pain  or  joy  —  not  of  the  govern 
esses  who  came  to  Dymsbury  Park,  nor  of  the 
teachers  at  -Mount  Grimrood,  nor  even  of  her 
aunt's  discreet  instructions.  But  she  hears  many 
voices.  They  seem  to  play  ever  mysteriously 
around  her  life,  but  clearest  then  —  and  not  least 
among  them,  the  lonely  flute-note  sweeping  the 
long  grasses  in  the  old  meadows  at  Dymsbury 
Park,  where  a  poor  little  heart  went  bravely  to 
its  rest ;  not  least  among  them,  the  solemn  chant 
that  seemed  to  fill  earth  and  sky,  when  Excelluna 
put  her  earthly  treasures  by,  and  looked  beyond 
the  hills  to  God. 


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